Haiti: Moise Case Prosecutor Asks To Investigate PM Ariel Henry

On Thursday, Prosecutor Bel-Ford Claude asked the Port-au-Prince's First Instance Court to investigate Prime Minister Ariel Henry in relation to the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on July 7.

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In a letter addressed to Judge Garry Orelien, Claude supports his request on the fact that the prime minister spoke by phone twice with one of the suspects of ordering the assassination, former official Joseph Felix Badio, hours after the murder.

At this time, the murder investigation is in the hands of Orelien, who is the only competent authority to call witnesses or suspects to testify or to decide who is a suspect.

Last week, the prosecutor invited Henry to appear on Tuesday to be questioned about those phone calls. This public call, however, was disqualified by the Haitian prime minister.

"No distraction, summons, invitation, maneuver, threat, underhanded attack, or aggression, will distract me from my mission," said Henry on Saturday, during the signing of a political agreement with the opposition.

In response to the attitude taken by the Prime Minister, the Prosecutor asked the Directorate of Immigration and Emigration to prevent Henry from leaving the country due to "serious assassination presumptions."

So far, 44 people are in pretrial detention for this Moise murder case. Among the accused are 12 members of the presidential guard and 18 Colombian mercenaries.