Previously, the former Colombian soldiers had refused to speak when questioned by another judge assigned to the case, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil, who appoints judges for the case, told The Associated Press.
The first two suspects were transported on Monday and Tuesday from Haiti’s main prison in downtown Port-au-Prince to a government office in nearby Petion-Ville, where they would be questioned by Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire, the judge said.
The 18 Colombians are among more than 40 suspects, including elite Haitian police officers, arrested in Haiti after Moïse was shot dead in his private home in July 2021. The investigation in Haiti is progressing very slowly, partly due to the high turnover of judges overseeing the case.
Voltaire is the fifth judge to lead the investigation; previous judges have resigned for various reasons. One said his family pressured him not to take the case because they feared he would be killed.
Meanwhile, U.S. authorities have charged 11 extradited suspects in the past two years.
U.S. prosecutors have described a broad conspiracy between parties in Haiti and South Florida who sought to profit from lucrative contracts with Moïse’s successor after he was kidnapped or killed.
In June, a Haitian-Chilean businessman became the first suspect in the case to be convicted and sentenced, while 10 others await trial in Florida.
In Haiti, suspects are being held in the country’s main prison and so far few hearings have taken place. A trial is not yet planned.
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Manuel Rueda in Bogotá, Colombia and Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed to this report.
SPRING: Associated Press