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Colombian pleads guilty in Haiti president assassination

December 23, 2023

Colombian ex-soldier Mario Palacios is the fifth of 11 defendants to plead guilty in the 2021 killing of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

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A person holds a photo of the late Haitian President Jovenel Moise during his memorial ceremony at the National Pantheon Museum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Haitian President Jovenel Moise was killed in his private residence on July 7, 2021Image: Matias Delacroix/AP/picture alliance

A former Colombian soldier pleaded guilty in a US court on Friday for his alleged role in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.

Prosecutors had said 45-year-old Mario Palacios was part of a group of Colombian contractors who broke into Moise's home, where he was killed.

Palacios had originally pleaded not guilty in the case.

What do we know about the murder of Moise?

On July 7, 2021, at the age of 53, Moise was shot and killed in his private residence by a group of more than 20 people, most of them Colombian mercenaries, when his guards failed to intervene.

According to the indictment, Palacios entered the president's home with the mercenaries and stole money and jewelry.

Prosecutors, however, said he played a minor role in the conspiracy and had no decision-making power within the group.

Plotters initially planned to kidnap Moise

Palacios is the fifth of 11 defendants to plead guilty in the 2021 killing. As part of a deal with prosecutors, he agreed to cooperate with the investigation and plead guilty. The sentence will be handed down on March 1.

According to prosecutors, the conspirators initially planned to kidnap the Haitian president but later decided to kill him. They say the plotters had hoped to win contracts under Moïse's successor.

Three defendants have already been sentenced to life in prison in the case: former Haitian senator Joseph Joel John; a businessman of Haitian and Chilean nationality, Rodolphe Jaar; and another retired Colombian soldier.

dh/sri (AP, AFP, Reuters)