The new judge appointed to oversee the investigation into the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse told The Associated Press on Friday that he has not decided whether to take the case amid concerns of putting his life in danger.
Judge Chavannes Étienne said his family is pressuring him not to accept the case because they fear for his life. If he accepted, he would become the third judge to take up the case.
It was not immediately clear if Étienne had to respond by a certain date. He previously oversaw the investigation into the November 2018 massacre of a few dozen people in La Saline, a seaside slum in Haiti’s capital.
Judge Bernard Saint-Vil, dean of the Port-au-Prince Court of First Instance, told the AP that he had chosen Étienne but declined to comment further due to fears that the current rotation of judges would delay the case. .
Judge Garry Orélien had been overseeing the case but recently resigned amid corruption allegations that he denied. He had also asked for more time to investigate the July 7 murder, but Saint-Vil denied the request.
Orélien was appointed after another judge resigned in August for personal reasons, a move that came after one of his assistants died in unclear circumstances.
More than 40 people have been arrested for Moïse’s murder at his private residence, including several Haitian police officers, a former senator and 18 former Colombian soldiers, most of whom the Colombian government says were duped.
Two other suspects were recently extradited to the United States: Rodolphe Jaar, a former US government informant arrested in the Dominican Republic in January, and Mario Palacios, a former Colombian soldier arrested in Jamaica in October.
Palacios’ attorney had requested an additional month to prepare his defense, and a federal judge in Miami granted him Friday. The defense attorney said Palacios will plead not guilty in March. Meanwhile, a hearing for Jaar has been postponed to later this month. He has not pleaded guilty and recently got a new defense attorney.
Jaar and Palacios have been charged with conspiracy to commit murder or kidnapping outside the United States and providing material support resulting in death, knowing or intending that such material support would be used to prepare or carry out the conspiracy. to kill or kidnap.