Jovenel Moïse Assassination: Turkish authorities detains another suspect

Another suspect (Samir Handal) in the assassination case of Haitian President Jovenel Moise was detained by the Turkish authorities, the Foreign Minister of Haiti – Claude Joseph, informed on late Monday.

The Minister shared the news via Twitter, citing that, “I just had a phone conversation with the Turkish Minister, my friend Mevlut Cavusoglu, to thank Turkey for the arrest of Samir Handal, one of the persons of great interest in the investigation into the assassination of the president”.

Handal was arrested at the Istanbul Airport by authorities as he was flying transit from the United States to Jordan. He was sought with an Interpol Red Notice, as per the Turkish media.

Haitian police August report stated that Handal hosted a meet with political leaders at his residence in Port-au-Prince, where the presence of Emmanuel Sanon (another suspected mastermind of assassination) has also been confirmed by the authorities. Sanon was arrested in the month of July.

In all, seven Haitian passports and three Palestinian passports, with the name of Handal on them, were recovered from Sanon’s home by the investigators. The police report further highlights, Sanon notified the police authorities that Handal sent 4 Colombian security guards for his protection while he was residing in Haiti.

Colombian mercenaries are among the main suspects in the killing of the Haitian President, but still, no one has been charged or arrested yet.

Haitian President was assassinated on July 7, 2021, at his residence, when he was brutally shot; during the incident, President’s wife – Martine Moise, was also injured, who was then immediately taken to the United States for her treatment.

In the month of October, Mario Antonio Palacios (another suspect) was detained by the authorities from Jamaica. Palacios is a Colombian national and former military officer and was on the wanted list of International Criminal Police Organization INTERPOL.

The police officials are searching for several other suspects who were involved in the killing of the Haitian President.