Overview:
Supporters, relatives and Haitian officials commemorated the fifth anniversary of President Jovenel Moïse’s assassination on July 7, renewing calls for justice as Haiti’s investigation continues without a trial or convictions. While U.S. federal courts have convicted 10 defendants connected to the case, judicial proceedings in Haiti remain unresolved.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Five years after President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his bedroom, throngs of supporters, relatives and government officials gathered across Haiti Tuesday to honor his memory and renew calls for justice in a case that remains unresolved.
“We will continue to ask all the communal, spiritual spaces to support us through candle-lighting and oil-burning rituals, so that justice can be served for Jovenel,” said Rosemond Jean, a longtime supporter of the late president.
“We will continue to mobilize so that, by the sixth year, we will be here to assess the outcome of criminals arrested, tried and convicted in Moïse’s assassination,” Jean added during the Tuesday march.
Despite years of investigations, judicial transfers and dozens of suspects in Haiti and the United States, Haiti has yet to hold a trial or convict anyone for the July 7, 2021, assassination that plunged the country into deeper political instability. The case remains under investigation, now led by a sixth judge, underscoring persistent weaknesses in Haiti’s judicial system.
Tuesday’s anniversary was marked by memorial ceremonies, wreath laying, requiem masses, marches and tributes organized by government officials and supporters of the late president.
A prolonged investigation with no trial in sight
The case is now assigned to Judge Jean Denis Cyprien, after Haiti’s Court of Appeal overturned a previous order issued by the previous prosecutor, Judge Walter Wesser Voltaire. Back in February 2024, Voltaire’s order had indicted roughly 50 people, including the widow and former First Lady Martine Moïse, several former senior government officials and numerous individuals close to the assassinated president.
Since taking over the case, Cyprien has questioned current and former police officials, human rights advocates, political figures, former associates of Moïse and other individuals. Among his latest actions were arrest warrants submitted to Haiti’s National Police (PNH) and requests for Interpol assistance.
With the latter, Cyprien is seeking to locate several suspects living abroad, including former Radio Télévision Caraïbes journalist Jean Monard Métellus, ex-Justice Minister Rockefeller Vincent, former High Court Judge Wendelle Coq Thélot — who reportedly died last year — attorney Max Beauvoir and entrepreneur Samir Handal. They all face allegations that include criminal association, assassination, attempted assassination and complicity in the killing.
While Haiti’s investigation remains stalled, prosecutions have moved much faster in the United States, where federal authorities charged several suspects accused of helping finance or organize the plot.
Ten of the 11 defendants prosecuted in U.S. federal court have pleaded guilty or been convicted. One remaining defendant has yet to stand trial because of an undisclosed illness.
