Martine Moise, the former first lady of Haiti, was accused Monday of planning her husband’s assassination so she could ascend to the presidency herself.
Moise, 49, was among 70 names recommended for charges by Port-au-Prince prosecutor Edler Guillaume in a legal filing obtained by the New York Times. His investigation into the 2021 murder of President Jovenel Moïse spanned several interviews with others who gave statements that conflicted with those of Moise about where and when she was that day. Moise was also badly injured in the attack on her husband.
“We do not believe that she is or could ever be a suspect in the case,” Paul Turner, a Florida-based attorney for Moise, told the Times. “She was a victim, just like her children that were there, and her husband.”
Under Haitian law, prosecutors do not have the power to indict a suspect, only to issue their recommendations to a judge who decides whether someone should be charged.
Critics immediately pounced, floating the possibility that politics and a badly broken government could have tainted the investigation by pointing the finger at Moise in order to deflect attention from high-ranking government officials who could have been complicit in the assassination. Ariel Henry, the former president’s prime minister, w as revealed to have spoken with one of the key conspirators shortly before President Moïse’s murder, though he was not recommended for charges.
Mrs. Moise herself has long criticized the investigation, accusing officials of failing to conduct a transparent investigation.
Dan Foote, a former U.S. special envoy to Haiti, told the Times he agrees with that sentiment.
“The fact that this government is running the investigation is bad enough,” Mr. Foote said. “It’s not even close to independent.”
A separate trial in the U.S. resulted in the indictment of 11 individuals, five of which later pleaded guilty. Mrs. Moise is expected to testify in the upcoming trials.
President Moïse was killed July 7, 2021 when Colombian soldiers hired by a Miami-based security company stormed his compound in the middle of the night, according to the Haitian investigation. There was little or no gunfire exchanged with his security personnel, raising questions about whether his murder was coordinated by some of those closest to him.
Moise’s death threw Haiti into chaos, with the international community now in agreement that the country is in a state of failure. Roaming gangs have divided territories throughout the island nation, pressuring locals and businesses for protection bribes while committing violence against women and children. A security force from Kenya is expected to arrive soon in an attempt to quell some of the violence.
Walther Voltaire, the presiding judge in President Moïse’s murder trial, is expected to issue any indictments by the end of the month.
“The case is moving forward vigorously,” Mr. Guillaume said, declining to comment further.
