Prosecutor requests Haiti’s prime minister be charged for president’s killing

Haiti’s chief prosecutor asked a judge on Tuesday to charge Prime Minister Ariel Henry for the death of former Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

The order filed by Bed-Ford Claude requested that Henry be barred from leaving the country, The Associated Press reported.

“There are enough compromising elements … to prosecute Henry and ask for his outright indictment,” Claude wrote in the order.

The AP notes that Claude filed the order on the same day that he requested a meeting with Henry seeking explanation for why a suspect in the killing of Moïse — Joseph Badio — called him twice shortly after the assassination.

According to Claude, phone calls were made to Henry 4:03 and 4:20 a.m. He added that there was evidence that Badio was close to Henry’s home when these calls were made.

Moïse and his wife Martine Moïse were attacked at about 1 a.m. on July 7 in his private residence. Martine was critically injured in the attack, but survived and returned to Haiti after receiving treatment in a Miami hospital.

Over 40 people have been arrested in connection to Moïse’s assassination so far, including some U.S. citizens.

Haiti has been thrown into chaos in recent months, and not only by the president’s assassination. A major 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the country in mid-August, killing more than 2,000 and injuring tens of thousands more.

In August, Haiti’s presidential election was pushed back about two months to November. The country doesn’t currently have an active legislature.