The Haitian National Police arrested several of the alleged killers of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse earlier this morning, four of whom died in the police operation and two others were injured. According to information collected by the Gazette Haiti chain, about twenty people are being investigated for this crime in a health facility. They are accused of entering Moïse's home in the early morning of 7 June and shooting the president and hurting his wife. The event has aggravated the state of violence and the security emergency in Haiti, and Acting President Claude Joseph has declared a state of siege.

The Haitian Government spokesman Frantz Exantus has reported through the social media of the arrests and the police chief Leon Charles has detailed the details of the operation at a press conference. The arrests have taken place in the Pelerín district in the capital Port-au-Prince, where the murder of Moïse took place. The six suspects have kidnapped three policemen in the operation, but the security forces have managed to release them. Carlos has stated that the officers have killed four of the alleged criminals and that two others have been arrested by police officers.

However, another twenty people who are being investigated are in the Gazette Haiti, according to the data collected by the media, which indicates that "they will be killed or captured," Charles explained. Although no information has yet been disseminated on suspects, people in the area have indicated that they speak Spanish and English (the official languages of Haiti are French and Kreol).

According to the newspaper Berria, following the dissemination of data on the murder, the airlines cancelled their flights to Haiti and closed the Dominican Republic border with Haiti. Claude Joseph initially called for calm and soon after, in an extraordinary council of ministers, decided that he would decree a state of siege in the country.

Murder of Moïse

In the early morning of 7 July, a group of armed men managed to enter the house of President Jovenel Moïse. The assailants allegedly symbolised that a police operation was being carried out by the Anti-Drugs Agency EE.UU, a version that the US Government has denied. Moïse was killed with at least twelve gunshots, his wife Martine Moïse was seriously injured and had to be taken to a Florida hospital. At the moment, it is out of danger.

The situation of violence in Haiti by armed groups is extremely serious. Furthermore, this is not the first time that an aggression has taken place against authority. Half a year ago, in February 2021, the government announced the halting of another attempted murder of Moïse. The opposition to Moïse has been very strong in Haiti, where many have accused the president of being a dictator in Haiti.

Haiti’s 2015 votes were rejected due to allegations of fraud received in Haiti. It was then that President Michel Martelly set up Moïse as president of the Senate in the interim office. In the 2016 elections, it was Moïse himself who won the elections and achieved the head of the state for five years. However, in the past year, Moïse has been ruling without parliament and the opposition has denounced that he had to leave the presidency in 2020, as he joined the office in 2015, albeit on a provisional basis. Moïse said he was in office until 2022.

The upcoming elections in Haiti are scheduled for September 2021. It will then be the first round of the government presidency and a constitutional referendum. The second round and the legislative elections will be held in November.