KINGSTON (Jamaica), Jan 24 (NNN-CARIBBEAN NEWS NOW) — Former Haitian senator John Joel Joseph, together with his wife and two children, are set to attend court proceedings next month after their arrest last weekend in Jamaica over allegations of being involved with the Haitian president’s killing.
The Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court in Half-Way-Tree ordered Joseph and his family to be remanded and to attend the next session on Feb 15, Joseph’s lawyer Donahue Martin said.
No further details were said about the court proceedings. “I can’t comment beyond that. The matter has some amount of sensitivity to it and as a result my comments have to be very limited,” Martin said.
Last week, Jamaican authorities arrested Joseph who is apparently a prime suspect in the murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021.
A local media Jamaican Observer reported that the ex-senator arrived in Jamaica illegally by boat in December, tagging along his family members.
In a pre-dawn police operation, Joseph and his family were found in Warminster District, St Elizabeth. They were occupying “two houses on a property in the rural community.” The residents have kept them under the radar for a couple of weeks.
According to Haitian ex-police chief Leon Charles, Joseph was responsible for supplying weapons and planned meetings. Charles resigned from his position following the surge of crimes in the beleaguered country and the killing of Moïse.
The Miami Herald has also reported about Joseph’s participation in the killing of the Haitian president, citing a 24-page Haitian police investigative report where it revealed that Joseph “was instrumental in his fierce will to kill the president.”
Joseph was one of the three prime suspects for the murder. In late October, former Colombian soldier Mario Antonio Palacios Palacios was also arrested by Jamaican police.
“Following his court appearance here, and while being deported to his native Colombia earlier this month, Palacios was notified by US authorities that he was being extradited to America to face charges there,” the Jamaica Observer reported.
While there is no extradition treaty between Haiti and Jamaica, Joseph could be sent back to his native country, the Observer added. — NNN-CNN
