Spanish
Miami.- A judge in the Southern District of Florida postponed to March 2026 the trial of five individuals implicated in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, in July 2021, due to the review of a large amount of evidence and the difficulty in gathering testimonies from mercenaries involved in the case.
The court record, which was accessed, shows that on May 19, the Court "granted the motion to continue the trial on March 9, 2026" following a request from the defense of the accused Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, who argued that he "has only reviewed approximately 25%" of the evidence presented by the Government.Read more: Trial of Congressman imprisoned in Miami is suspended after court declares it incompetent
“To show the Court a granular example of the volume of discovery, just one folder in ‘Production 17’ has dozens of hours of audio or video recordings of individuals who will likely be witnesses at trial,” argued the defense.
The request to postpone the trial was also supported by the defendants James Solages, Antonio Intriago, and Walter Veintemilla, although Haitian-American pastor Christian Sanon opposed it.The trial in Miami is one of the most anticipated regarding the assassination of Moïse, tortured and murdered on July 7, 2021, in his private residence in the capital sector of Pétion-ville by a group of mercenaries, 17 of them Colombians.
Court documents show that, between February and July 2021, South Florida "served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to overthrow President Moïse and replace him with someone who would serve the conspirators' political goals and financial interests."More than 50 people are implicated in connection with this case, including the president's widow, Martine Moïse, and 17 Colombians arrested, mainly former military personnel from the South American country, and some who claim to have received contracts for private security missions, without knowing the final objective.
