Jamaica Makes 2nd Arrest in Haiti's President Assassination

Jamaican security forces have made a second arrest related to the assassinations of President Jovenel Moise of Haiti, who mercenaries killed on July 7 last year. The arrest included several other people authorities caught before dawn on Saturday, January 15.

According to the Associated Press, Haiti's national police said that former senator Joel Joseph was in custody in Jamaica on Saturday. Superintendent of police in Jamaica, Stephanie Lindsay, told AP that authorities arrested other people with Joseph and are trying to determine whether they are family members. However, Lindsay declined to give further details, saying that "For more than one reason, we're not sharing more information."

Joseph is a Haitian politician and opponent of the Tet Kale party to which Moïse belonged.

Among those celebrating the arrest was Claude Joseph, Haiti's former minister of foreign affairs who briefly served as interim prime minister following Moïse's killing.

"The arrest of John Joel Joseph shows that there will be no hiding place for those who are directly or indirectly involved in the assassination," he wrote, saying that the international effort he initiated continues to bear fruit.

Haiti suspects in President assassination — Suspects in the assassination of Haiti's President Jovenel Moise sit on the floor handcuffed after being detained, at the General Direction of the police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, July 8, 2021. A Haitian judge involved in the murder investigation said that President Moise was shot a dozen times and his office and bedroom were ransacked. (AP Photo/Jean Marc Hervé Abélard)

Others arrested since the assassination

In late October, Jamaican authorities arrested former Colombian soldier Mario Antonio Palacios. Jamaica's supreme court ordered him deported on December 31, 2021. US authorities subsequently charged Palacios with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States. Another charge included providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare for or carry out the conspiracy to kill or kidnap.

More than 40 people, including 18 former Colombian soldiers, have been arrested in the killing of Moïse. The late president was shot several times at his private residence in an attack that injured his wife, Martine Moïse.

Colombian government officials have said that the majority of former soldiers were duped and did not know about the actual mission. The soldiers, who remain in prison in Haiti, have accused authorities of torture, while the Colombian government recently said the country's consul in Haiti was threatened after trying to provide humanitarian assistance.