A group of suspects of involvement in the murder of Jovenel Moïse, including at left James Solages and Joseph Vincent, who are facing criminal charges in the United States. Odelyn Joseph (AP)
Four key convicts in the assassination of Jovenel Moïse were transferred to the United States. The Justice Department reported Tuesday that the men connected to the July 7, 2021 assassination of the President have been transferred to courts in the South District of Florida for prosecution. The four parties involved will appear before an American judge for the first time this Wednesday afternoon. Washington already has a total of seven suspects in custody for the murder, which further aggravated the violent and democratic crisis the Caribbean country was experiencing, which has failed to advance the local court cases of the alleged perpetrators.
The detainees who arrived on US territory this week are James Solages, 37, and Joseph Vincent, 57, who have dual nationality of Haiti and the United States; Colombian German Alejandro Rivera García, 44, and Christian Sanon, 54. The first three are charged with organizing a murder or kidnapping. They could be sentenced to life in prison if found guilty. Sanon is a religious pastor, doctor, and businessman. He is considered a key figure in the conspiracy that led to Moïse’s death and is accused of smuggling goods. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The trial was due to start in March, but lawyers believe the start will be delayed as the seven have to be charged at the same time.
Investigations establish that Sanon imported 20 bulletproof vests from Florida to Haiti for his militia. These arrived on the island labeled as medical X-ray clothing and other school supplies. The Justice Department alleges that this figure, who had some social support, met with James Solages in South Florida in April 2021 to orchestrate a coup aimed at regime change. “Following that meeting, a list of equipment and weapons required for the operation was passed to Solages, who in turn passed it to Sanon,” Washington said in a statement. That list included rifles, submachine guns, tear gas canisters, hand grenades, ammunition and bulletproof vests exported without proper papers (this will be one of the charges Solages will have to face in court).
A month after that meeting, in May 2021, Sanon began purchasing all of the items on the list. These would be necessary to arm a private militia composed mainly of about 20 Colombians with military training. Rivera García was the leader of this mercenary group under the command of Sanon, who was politically motivated and wanted to take power after Moïse was deposed. A total of 18 Colombian nationals accused of the assassination are in prison awaiting trial.
Two months before Moïse was murdered, Joseph Vincent sent a message to Solages about a cat reacting with fear to a gunfight. This caused laughter from what is believed to be one of the masterminds of the assassination. “This is the reaction Jovenel will have if you continue,” the prisoner wrote to Solages, according to the court document. The pastor replied, “The cat will not return… And believe me brother, we make the final decision.”
In early June, the conspiracy suffered a nuance, according to Justice. Solages, Vinvent and Rivera contacted to discuss the arrest of the 53-year-old president and taking him out of the country to an undisclosed location. But the conspirators did not manage to get an airship, so the plan was changed again. The day before the murder, the suspects met in a house near the presidential residence. In this building, the weapons and equipment used to carry out the coup were distributed.
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Knowing what was about to happen, Solages took it upon himself to spread the version that the CIA was preparing an operation aimed at deposing Moïse. Minutes before the murder, the defendant yelled that it was indeed a maneuver by the DEA, Washington’s anti-drug agency.
The FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Miami Office of the US Department of Homeland Security were the two agencies tasked with conducting the investigation, which reinforced the charges against the characters involved. The investigation allowed Haitian authorities to arrest those involved, who were arrested in Haiti and later gave interviews to US agents and told their versions. In addition to those named, the US has Rodolphe Jaar, a former Washington whistleblower extradited from the Dominican Republic, former Senator John Joël Joseph, and Mario Antonio Palacios, another Colombian militiaman.
Very little has happened since then. The case has been progressing slowly since Port-au-Prince’s judicial authorities appointed a judge, the fifth, to hear the case in 2022. The previous four were fired or retired for personal reasons. Some judges have received death threats lest they take over the reins of a trial far from achieving justice.
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