According to police, a suspected mastermind behind the murder of President Jovenel Moïse has been arrested in Haiti. 63-year-old Christian Emmanuel Sanon flew to Haiti in a private jet at the beginning of June, accompanied by hired security guards, and wanted to take over the office of president, Police Chief Leon Charles said at a press conference on Sunday. Sanon’s motive was “political”, the police chief did not provide any further details.
The doctor was accused of hiring the Colombian mercenaries suspected of being an assassin through a Venezuelan private security company based in Florida, the police said. He was the first they called after the attack. Evidence was found in his apartment. The man had contact with two other backers. Eighteen Colombians and three Haitian Americans, including Sanon, were arrested in connection with Moïse’s murder, Charles said. According to the police, 26 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian origin carried out the murder. They pretended to be agents of the US anti-drug agency DEA. Three of the Colombians were killed, the remaining five are still being sought.
The alleged bombers told investigators that they wanted to arrest the president, not kill, as the newspaper did Miami Herald and a person familiar with the matter previously reported. The 53-year-old head of state Moïse was attacked and shot in his residence. His wife Martine was seriously injured and was taken to Florida for treatment. The background to the act has so far remained unclear.
Moïse had been in office since 2017 and ruled for more than a year by decree because the organization of an election failed. The opposition accused the 53-year-old of corruption and mass protests broke out. Moïse has always denied the allegations and pushed for a constitutional reform, with which he said he wanted to ensure more stability. His opponents saw it as an attempt to achieve a dictatorship.
According to the Haitian authorities, Moïse was killed by foreign professional killers. Two men then declared themselves interim heads of government. The Senate elected its President Joseph Lambert as interim head of state. However, the parliament has not had a quorum since early 2020 after an election was canceled and the terms of most MPs expired. The political situation in Haiti is made even more unstable by the fact that the chairman of the Supreme Court died a few weeks ago – as a result of Covid-19.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are planned for September 26th. The international community has so far recognized Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who is also Foreign Minister, as a point of contact. His government asked the ex-occupying power USA to send troops to ensure security and protect infrastructure. The request will be examined, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. The focus is currently on helping with the investigation, he told Fox News. For this, high-ranking officials, including the US Federal Police FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, were sent to Haiti. According to Lambert, they also met with him on Sunday.