Charges sought for Haiti PM in president slaying
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti’s chief prosecutor on Tuesday asked a judge to charge Prime Minister Ariel Henry in the slaying of the president and asked officials to bar him from leaving the country, a move that could further destabilize a country that seemed to be calming after turmoil that followed the assassination and a recent major earthquake.
The order filed by prosecutor BedFord Claude came after he requested Henry meet with him and explain why a key suspect in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse called him twice just hours after the killing.
“There are enough compromising elements ... to prosecute Henry and ask for his outright indictment,” Claude wrote in the order.
Claude said the calls were made at 4:03 and 4:20 a.m. on July 7, adding that evidence shows the suspect, Joseph Badio, was in the vicinity of Moïse’s home at that time.
Badio 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.