Police in Haiti detain a new suspect over the 2021 assassination of President Moise
Authorities in Haiti on Monday arrested a new suspect in the July 2021 killing of former president Jovenel Moise.
The killing sparked a spiral of violence in the Caribbean nation that has overwhelmed police and led to calls for outside military assistance.
Macky Kessa, mayor of the southern coastal city of Jacmel, was detained but has not been charged, his attorney Jimmy Jean-Baptiste told reporters.
He said that Mr Kessa is being held in Haiti’s notorious National Penitentiary in the capital, Port-au-Prince and that he plans to seek his release.
It wasn’t immediately clear why Mr Kessa was detained. Mr Jean-Baptiste declined further comment, noting that the investigation is ongoing.
The arrest occurred after Mr Kessa met Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire, who is investigating the case.
More than 40 suspects have been arrested in the case, most of them shortly after Mr Moise was fatally shot at his private residence.
As violence has risen in Haiti, acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry pleaded with the international community for a military intervention to quell the gangs that have gained control over much of the country.
Kenya eventually agreed to lead the force with financial support from the United States and personnel from Senegal, Burundi, Chad, Belize, Jamaica, Antigua & Barbuda, Suriname and the Bahamas. But the High Court in Kenya has so far blocked the parliamentary authorisation of the mission.
The Communist Party of Kenya has opposed Kenyan involvement in Haiti, warning that the government was “diminishing the sovereignty and self-determination of Haitian people.”
In a statement last week, the CPK said the “crisis in Haiti is not merely a result of gang violence but a deliberate problem orchestrated by the imperialist core,” saying that Haiti’s historic revolution in the 19th century had marked it for “continued interference and retaliation by imperialist forces.”
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