Haiti extradites 18 suspects in assassination of president to US

**Haiti extradites 18 suspects in president’s assassination to US**

Haiti has been swept by a surge of gang violence since the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

Eighteen people have been transported from Haiti to the US state of Florida to face trial over their alleged role in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise five years ago.

Moise was fatally shot at his home in the capital, Port-au-Prince, in July 2021, allegedly by a group made up largely of Colombian mercenaries.

Earlier Haitian probes into the killing have been hampered by widespread gang control and lawlessness across the country.

The extradition was "the next major phase in our pursuit of accountability" for the presidential assassination, US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason Reding Quiñones said in a post on X.

"Five years later, we are still bringing defendants before American courts, and we are not finished," Quiñones said on X.

He said 30 suspects had been indicted so far in connection with the killing.

US prosecutors say the planning and financing of Moise's murder was coordinated from Florida, as well as the Dominican Republic and Haiti itself.

Because Haiti’s justice system is in such a dire state, US prosecutors have had to bring the detainees to Florida to have the cases heard there.

When gunmen entered Moise's residence and killed him in his bedroom, it shook the Caribbean nation to its core.

Many Haitians were stunned that the 53-year-old president was assassinated with such apparent ease.

Among those extradited on Sunday were 17 Colombian ex-soldiers and a senior figure in the then-Haitian government, Joseph Badio, who worked in an anti-corruption unit at the country's justice ministry.

A Miami-based security firm is accused of having played a key role in recruiting the Colombian ex-soldiers.

"Today's multi-location and international arrests underscore the FBI's continued commitment to bringing all participants in this plot to justice," FBI special agent Brett Skiles said on X.

Several men allegedly linked to the killing were shot dead by police at the time.

Four people were convicted in a Miami court in May for their role in the conspiracy, which prosecutors have long said was planned and financed in Miami, as well as the Dominican Republic.

The men, whose charges included conspiracy to kill or kidnap Moise and conspiracy to provide material support in connection with the killing, face possible life sentences.

The Colombian former soldiers have said they were mercenaries who believed they were involved in a coup, and that they did not know Moise was to be murdered.

Haiti has been engulfed in a wave of gang violence since Moise's assassination.

At least 1,408 people were killed and 656 injured from April through June this year, according to the UN Integrated Office in Haiti.

The country is set to hold its first presidential and legislative election since 2016 on December 13, if the security situation permits.