Jamaican police on Saturday arrested former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph, one of the suspects involved in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, a crime that has exacerbated the country’s socio-political crisis.
The detainee is a former senator from the Haitian opposition. He was found along with others in a rural community where he lived in anonymity on the island.
Jamaica Police Communications Unit Chief Superintendent Stephanie Lindsay said other individuals were arrested with Joseph and authorities are trying to determine who they are.
“For various reasons, we will not be sharing further information about Joseph’s arrest,” he told reporters.
Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated on July 7 when hitmen invaded the presidential residence and shot him dead. The First Lady was injured but survived.
Delay in investigation of the assassination of the president of Haiti
The news of the former senator’s arrest comes after Haiti’s National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDH) earlier this month denounced the lack of progress in the investigation into the murder of President Moise.
As foreign nationals were actively involved in the preparation and execution of the murder, the RNDH considered it important to collaborate with intelligence agencies in other countries that can help locate the perpetrators of the crime.
Former Colombian military Mario Antonio Palacios was another detained on suspicion of connection with the murder. He faces two charges in the United States related to the crime and is being held in a Miami prison.
Palacios testified to US authorities after he was detained earlier this month during a stopover in Panama, from where he voluntarily traveled to the US.
According to recently released legal documents, Palacios said he was hired to provide security and participate in an operation that was originally intended to capture Moise at the airport and put him on a plane, but on July 6 he was informed that plans had changed to a murder.
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