PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Authorities in Haiti on Monday arrested a brand new suspect within the July 2021 slaying of President Jovenel Moïse.
Macky Kessa, a former mayor of the southern coastal metropolis of Jacmel, was detained however has not been charged, his legal professional, Jimmy Jean-Baptiste, informed The Related Press.
He stated Kessa is being held in Haiti’s infamous Nationwide Penitentiary within the capital, Port-au-Prince, and that he plans to hunt his launch.
It wasn’t instantly clear why Kessa was detained. Jean-Baptiste declined additional remark, noting that the investigation is ongoing.
The arrest occurred after Kessa met with Decide Walther Wesser Voltaire, who’s investigating the case and has interviewed a number of different suspects who’ve been languishing in jail for greater than two years. Voltaire is the fifth decide to be appointed to the case, with earlier judges stepping down for numerous causes, together with concern of being killed.
Voltaire didn’t instantly return a message requesting remark. He has beforehand stated he wouldn’t talk about the case publicly as a result of it’s nonetheless ongoing, with a number of hearings being held however no trial but scheduled.
Greater than 40 suspects have been arrested within the case, most of them shortly after Moïse was fatally shot at his personal residence in an assault that additionally injured his spouse, Martine Moïse.
Amongst these detained are 18 former Colombian troopers accused of collaborating within the plot and several other high-ranking Haitian cops.
Whereas the case drags on in Haiti, 11 suspects have been extradited to the U.S., with two of them already sentenced.
U.S. prosecutors have described a wide-ranging plot amongst suspects in Haiti and South Florida who aimed to learn from profitable contracts underneath a successor to Moïse, after he was both kidnapped or killed.
____
Observe AP’s protection of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america