Haiti chooses judge to probe president’s assassination

After weeks of struggling to fill the job, a senior magistrate in Haiti on Monday announced that a judge has been named to lead the probe into the assassination of president Jovenel Moise.

The dean of the Court of First Instance in Port-au-Prince, Bernard Saint-Vil, said that Judge Mathieu Chanlatte was chosen for the job.

Chanlatte “will not be intimidated,” said Jean Wilner Morin, president of the National Association of Haitian Magistrates.

A hit team burst into the presidential residence on July 7 and shot Moise dead. His wife Martine was wounded but survived.

Human rights defender Pierre Esperance said he hoped that Chanlatte would treat the case “with the law as a compass, without falling into political persecution.”

Minister of Justice and Public Security Rockefeller Vincent said that his ministry would take all measures necessary to guarantee the safety of judges as well as courtroom evidence.

Police say they have arrested 44 people in connection with the killing, including 12 Haitian police officers, 18 Colombians who were allegedly part of the commando team, and two Americans of Haitian descent.