March 24 (Reuters) – A dual Haitian and Chilean national pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Friday to three counts related to his role in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who was shot dead at his home in 2021.
According to court documents, Rodolphe Jaar is one of 11 defendants in the case, which includes businessmen accused of helping obtain vehicles and firearms from Florida, and former Colombian soldiers accused of killing Moise in his bedroom.
According to a plea signed Friday, Jaar provided personnel and funds to kidnap Moise, but the initial plan later turned into a murder plot. Some of the funds were used to buy weapons and pay bribes to some members of the president’s security, according to the statement.
Jaar met with the rest of the conspirators the night before the assassination, according to the statement, at which point Haitian-American James Solages stated that the goal was to kill Moise.
Jaar was arrested in the neighboring Dominican Republic in early 2022, and his sentence, which could go up to life in prison, is set for June 2 in Miami, court files showed.
Jaar’s lawyer declined to comment.
Moise’s murder left a huge political vacuum in the Caribbean country and emboldened powerful gangs, which now control large swaths of the country as a humanitarian crisis unfolds with at least 160,000 people recently displaced.
There have also been calls for foreign forces to be sent in to bolster the outgunned local police. On Friday afternoon, US President Joe Biden signaled that the United Nations could play a role in Haiti. (Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing in Spanish by Aida Peláez-Fernández)
Source: Ambito
