A former judicial official who is thought to be one of the prime suspects in the murder of Haitian President Jovenel Mose in 2021 was recently apprehended in the nation’s capital after more than two years on the run, according to authorities.
Before being terminated for suspected ethical transgressions a few weeks before the killing, Joseph Badio had previously worked for Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and the government’s anti-corruption unit.
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According to Garry Desrosiers, a spokesman for the National Police, Badio was taken into custody in Port-au-Petion Prince’s Vile neighborhood.
On July 7, 2021, Moise was shot 12 times in his house, triggering a political upheaval in Haiti.
After Moise’s murder, several persons had been detained, including 11 men who are currently in US jail. According to US prosecutors, there was a widespread scheme to recruit mercenaries to overthrow Moise so that conspirators in Florida and Haiti could profit from contracts under a future regime.
One of the 11 persons detained in the US, former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph, entered a guilty plea to the assassination-related charges last week. His sentencing date was scheduled for December 19 by a federal court.
The former senator was extradited to the US from Jamaica in June on charges that he had planned to kill someone or abduct someone outside of the country and had given them financial assistance in exchange for their deaths.
Additionally, two additional persons have entered guilty pleas. Rodolphe Jaar, a businessman of Haitian and Chilean descent, received a life sentence in June. German Alejandro Rivera Garcia, a former soldier for Colombia, will be sentenced on October 27.
18 former Colombian soldiers who are being held in detention in Haiti are among those who were detained following the murder.
The Caribbean Island has also seen an increase in gang violence after the killing, which prompted the prime minister to ask for the deployment of an armed force. Early in October, the UN Security Council eventually decided to send a multinational force headed by Kenya to assist in the fight against the gangs.
The deployment’s date has not been specified by Kenya.
