Senator Convicted of Presidential Assassination

Senator Convicted of Presidential Assassination
fullscreen Posters of the assassinated president Jovenel Moïse. Archive image. Photo: Odelyn Joseph/AP/TT

John Joel Joseph, former senator of Haiti, has been sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021.

Eleven people have been charged with aiding and abetting the murder, Joseph is the third to be convicted. After the murder, he fled to Jamaica, from where he was extradited earlier this year.

His sentence came two months after he pleaded guilty and signed a plea in hopes of a reduced sentence.

Sentencing in Miami, U.S. prosecutors have described the crime as a broad plot by conspirators in Haiti and Florida, with the goal of gaining advantage under a new government once Moïse was removed.

In addition to the eleven indicted in the United States, more than 40 people have been arrested, suspected of involvement, in Haiti.

Moïse was shot dead with twelve shots in his private home near the capital Port-au-Prince on July 7, 2021.

Haiti is in a deepening political and economic crisis after the murder, with criminal gangs controlling large parts of the country.

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