Turkish authorities jail suspect in assassination of Haiti’s president

Turkish authorities took a suspect with possible connections to the July 7 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse into custody on Monday.

A state-run news agency in Turkey, Anadolu Agency, said businessman Samir Handal was in a prison in Istanbul after he was detained at Istanbul’s airport on an Interpol notice during a trip from the U.S. to Jordan. 

He is now being held under a 40-day temporary custody order that was granted by court officials on the request of Turkey’s Justice Ministry, according to The Associated Press. The court officials questioned Handal after detaining him/

Haitian Foreign Minister Claude Joseph tweeted that he had spoken on the phone with Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu regarding Handal’s arrest. 

Je viens d’avoir une conversation téléphonique avec le chancelier turc, mon ami @MevlutCavusoglu, pour remercier la Turquie pour l’arrestation de Samir Handal, l’une des personnes de grand intérêt dans l’enquête sur l’assassinat du président @moisejovenel. pic.twitter.com/jkuDnvcIHP

— Claude Joseph (@claudejoseph03) November 15, 2021

Joseph did not say in the tweet if Haiti would seek the suspect’s extradition.

More than 40 people, including former Colombian soldiers and Haitian police officers, have been arrested as suspects in Moïse’s killing, which took place at the president’s private home, the AP reported.

Last week, the State Department urged U.S. citizens in Haiti to leave the country on commercial flights amid heightened political strife following Moïse’s assassination.

“Widespread fuel shortages may limit essential services in an emergency, including access to banks, money transfers, urgent medical care, internet and telecommunications, and public and private transportation options,” the State Department warned, noting that the U.S. Embassy “is unlikely to be able to assist U.S. citizens in Haiti with departure if commercial options become unavailable.”

Political instability in Haiti predated the assassination; by the time of his death, Moïse was essentially ruling the country by decree.