Moïse assassination suspect will not be deported to Haiti: former PM
Port-au-Prince, Dec 1 (EFE).- A former Colombian military officer suspected to be involved in the assassination of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse will not be deported to Port-au-Prince where he is wanted, former acting prime minister Claude Joseph said Saturday.
Jamaican authorities will instead deport Mario Antonio Palacios, 43, to his home country on Monday, he added.
“The Haitian government has not provided sufficient evidence to establish the mercenary’s involvement in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” Joseph wrote on Twitter.
The assassination of Moise is believed to have been committed by a group of mercenaries who broke into the presidential residence in the early morning of July 7 without encountering resistance, according to the investigations. Joseph was acting prime minister at the time.
“It is a heavy blow to the investigation. Unfortunately, no follow-up has been carried out by the current team, although the Colombian authorities have assured me of their cooperation,” said Joseph, who was removed from his foreign minister post in November.
“There is no political will to advance the investigation into the assassination of Jovenel Moïse.”
Of the group accused of the assassination, 18 former Colombian soldiers and two Haitian-Americans were arrested, while another three Colombians died in a shoot-out with the police.
The Haitian National Police published a search and arrest notice in July against Palacios, an alleged member of the group.
According to the investigation, Palacios had entered Moïse’s residence at the time of the assassination, and fled.
Palacios was arrested in Jamaica in October and convicted for illegally entering the country from the Dominican Republic.
Investigations into the murder appear to be at a standstill.
The president’s wife, Martine Moïse, was injured in the attack and underwent surgery in the United States. At Moise’s funeral she claimed that the country’s oligarchy is responsible for the crime.
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