Extradition of Suspects in Haitian President’s Assassination
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quinones, announced on Sunday the extradition of 18 individuals connected to the July 2021 murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. They will face trial in Florida.
“Today marks the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse,” Quinones stated on a social media platform.
He added, “Our work did not end with the men who planned and carried out this assassination. We will follow the evidence wherever it leads, to those who financed it, facilitated it, supported it, or committed crimes to make it possible.”
Quinones mentioned, “Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished.”
While Quinones did not disclose the names of the 18 extradited suspects, reports indicated that they comprise the remaining individuals in custody in Haiti, which includes 17 Colombian soldiers and Joseph Felix Badio, a former Haitian Ministry of Justice employee accused of masterminding the assassination.
Badio, who uses a wheelchair, appeared in federal court in Miami on Monday. He is alleged to have posed as an agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and coordinated the assault on Moïse’s residence with dozens of mercenaries, primarily from Colombia.
According to testimonies, Badio was involved in the early stages of the plot, originally aimed at either kidnapping Moïse or forcing his departure from Haiti. Witnesses claim he continued to assist even after the intention shifted to assassination, supplying mercenaries with weapons and critical information about Moïse’s home, including details on where he hid money and firearms.
Badio was arrested by Haitian police in October 2023, but bringing him to trial has proven challenging. Over the weekend, Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security stated that it agreed to extradite the suspects to Florida to facilitate judicial proceedings.
The ministry acknowledged that legal processes in Haiti “continue to face significant difficulties.”
“While the American procedure has registered significant advances, notably arrests, prosecutions, and convictions, the Haitian procedure remains confronted with important difficulties and has not, to date, led to the holding of a trial, after five years of procedure,” the ministry stated.
The Miami Herald reported that families of the Colombian detainees were caught off guard and distressed by the unexpected transfer to the U.S. They indicated they received no prior notice and were concerned about affording legal representation in America given their limited means. Some expressed disappointment with the Colombian government’s lack of support in preventing the extradition.
Most Colombian mercenaries assert they were naive participants who were misled into the plan to assassinate Moïse, although the Miami Herald noted that several have been implicated in other legal cases and appeared aware of their actions during the intrusion into Moïse’s home.
The mercenaries were reportedly contracted as security for Haitian-American pastor Christian Emmanuel Sanon, another significant figure in the conspiracy, who is set to go on trial in the U.S. next week.
A total of 30 individuals have been indicted in connection with the assassination of Moïse, many facing charges related to the intricate web of illegal financial transactions that funded the attack, including fraudulent wire transfers and misappropriations from COVID-19 relief funds. Nine individuals have been convicted on related charges to date.
