Haiti arrests top security official of slain leader

PORT-AU-PRINCE: A top security official of slain Haitian President Jovenel Moise was arrested by police on suspicion of involvement in the assassination plot, his lawyer said on Tuesday, as another aide’s apparent account of the event was leaked on social media.

Presidential Security Coordinator Jean Laguel Civil was arrested on Monday, lawyer Reynold Georges said, nearly three weeks ater Moise was killed on July 7 in the middle of the night at his private residence in Port-au-prince by a group of more than 20 mostly Colombian mercenaries.

Civil’s arrest followed the earlier detention of another senior member of Moise’s security detail, Dimitri Herard.

On Tuesday, a July 10 memo signed by Herard seting out the events of the assassination night was leaked on social media. Reuters could not immediately confirm its authenticity.

In the three-page document, Herard said he had received a call for help from Moise at 1:39am on July 7, whereupon he made for the president’s residence and ordered reinforcements.

Herard noted he received word of “many detonations” near Moise’s home and advanced on it with other officials.

Near the entrance they were confronted by men dressed in black who ordered them to retreat, saying they were part of an operation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), he added.

Due to the fact his group was outnumbered and concerned that the men might have the president, Herard’s group retreated.

They began planning an assault on their adversaries ater learning just ater 3am that the president was dead, he added.

In the ensuing batle on the aternoon of July 7, three Colombians were killed, Herard said, also noting in the memo that three police hostages were freed.

Many questions remain unanswered over who was behind the assassination and how the killers were able to gain access to the president’s home. Georges said that Civil is innocent. “The real culprits are those who gave the authorisation to these Colombians to enter Haiti; police should arrest them,” he said.