2023-06-22 15:42:04
SAN JUAN (AP) — Lawyers for the widow of slain Haitian president Jovenel Moïse filed a lawsuit Thursday in Florida against those accused of the murder, which is still under investigation.
The lawsuit, seen exclusively by The Associated Press, seeks unspecified compensation for the Moïse family and a jury trial to hold the defendants accountable for the president’s death.
“For whatever assets there are, we’re going to make sure these people pay,” attorney Paul Turner told the AP.
Moïse was shot to death in his private residence on July 7, 2021, and his wife Martine Moïse was seriously injured. More than 40 people have been arrested in the case, including a former Haitian senator, a former government anti-corruption official and 18 Colombian soldiers.
Turner believes there are more people involved in the murder who have not been identified.
“We think there is a lot of money or political power behind this,” he said.
Eleven suspects are being held in a federal prison in the United States. Turner deplored the delayed process in Haiti, where four judges appointed to oversee the investigation have been removed or have resigned for personal reasons.
A judge previously told the AP that his family asked him not to take the case for fear of being killed. Another resigned when one of his associates died under suspicious circumstances.
Turner said that while the US government has kept him and the Moïse family apprised of developments in the process, the Haitian government has given them no information, not even an inventory of Moïse and his family’s personal assets, of which seized local authorities after the murder.
“We would like to see more transparency,” the lawyer said.
A spokesman for the Haitian Ministry of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
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Goodman reported from Miami.
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