18 suspects appear in US court over Haiti president’s killing

Eighteen suspects accused of involvement in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse have been extradited to the Unted States.

He was shot dead at his home in the capital, Port-au-Prince, in July of that year, allegedly by a group of mainly Colombian mercenaries.

The attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Reding Quiñones, said Sunday that the suspects will face trial in Florida.

US authorities allege the state served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to oust the Haitian president and replace him with someone of the conspirators’ choosing.

On Monday, more than a dozen people appeared in federal court in Miami on charges related to the assassination, including key suspect, Joseph Badio.

The former Haiti Ministry of Justice employee was arrested in October 2023 after being on the run for more than two years.

Defence attorneys in the US for other suspects have asserted Badio was the mastermind behind a plan to use the president’s arrest to assassinate Moïse.

US Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid assigned lawyers and set additional court dates during a series of brief dialogues with each of the 18 defendants.

They face charges included conspiracy to kill or kidnap Moise and conspiracy to provide material support over the killing, which could lead to sentences of life in prison.

On Sunday, Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said that it surrendered the suspects to the US “to allow for their trial”.

Any proceedings in Haiti “continue to face significant difficulties,” the statement said.

Given the state of the justice system in Haiti amid ongoing gang violence, the onus has been on US prosecutors to bring the detainees to Florida to try the cases there.

At least nine people so far have been convicted at trial or through guilty pleas.