Jamaica arrests Columbian man in connection to Jovenel Moise assassination

Jamaican authorities have arrested a Columbian man as a
suspect in the July 7 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, US
media reports said.

Officials were still making calls to different embassies and
ministers of foreign affairs to confirm details, a Jamaican Police Superintendent
Stephanie Lindsay said according to a report by the Associated Press. More
information on the details of the arrest is awaited.

More than 40 suspects have been arrested so far in connection to the
presidential assassination. Those arrested include 18 former Colombian soldiers and several
Haitian police officers. Colombian authorities have said the majority of
soldiers did not know the true nature of the operation.

Haitian authorities have said the mastermind behind the
killing and the person or persons who financed it are still at large. Police
say they also are looking for other people accused of involvement in the
killing, including a former Haitian senator and Joseph Badio, who once worked
for Haiti’s Ministry of Justice and at the government’s anti-corruption unit
until he was fired in May amid accusations of violating unspecified ethical
rules.

Moise was fatally shot at his private home in a pre-dawn
attack in which his wife, Martine Moise, was wounded.

The investigation into the killing has faced multiple
obstacles and led to the dismissal of a justice minister and the chief
prosecutor for the capital of Port-au-Prince. The first judge assigned to
oversee the investigation stepped down in August citing personal reasons. He
left after one of his assistants died in unclear circumstances.

Court clerks who were helping investigate the killing also
have gone into hiding after receiving death threats if they didn’t change
certain names and statements in their reports.

The presidential killing shocked the nation of more than 11
million people and has deepened the country’s political instability, with
protesters on Thursday calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel
Henry as they decried a spike in crime and demanded better living conditions.

(With AP inputs)