By Sarah Morland
Sept 28 (Reuters) – A Haitian American pastor accused by US prosecutors of helping orchestrate the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise so he could take over the Caribbean nation’s leadership is due to stand trial in Miami on Monday.
Christian Emmanuel Sanon, 67, has pleaded not guilty to charges including conspiracy to kill or kidnap Moise and could face life in prison if convicted.
Sanon has been detained since Haitian authorities arrested him days after the assassination. Police found boxes of ammunition, 19 passports and other items in a search of his home. He was transferred to the US in early 2023.
The trial in US District Court in Miami is the latest chapter in a sprawling international investigation into the July 7, 2021, killing of Moise, who was shot dead in his bedroom after armed men stormed his home near Port-au-Prince.
Among the witnesses expected to testify is Moise’s widow, Martine Moise, who survived the attack.
Sanon is among dozens of people, including former Colombian soldiers, accused of carrying out and orchestrating the assassination, five of whom have already received life sentences. Prosecutors say the plot was largely organized and financed in South Florida, where Sanon lived intermittently starting in the 2000s.
Born in southern Haiti, Sanon studied medicine in the Dominican Republic before moving to Florida, according to local media outlets. He later appeared in online videos promoting himself as a potential leader who could bring change to Haiti.
Prosecutors allege Sanon helped recruit participants in the plot and hoped to become Haiti’s president after Moise was removed from power. His lawyers acknowledge he had presidential ambitions but deny he was aware of the plan to kill Moise.
Several convicted defendants have pointed to Sanon as one of the ringleaders. His lawyers are expected to argue that his co-conspirators increasingly sidelined him as they turned their attention to other candidates to succeed Moise.
Authorities have said the conspiracy was driven by multiple political and financial motives, including a bid to install a new government and secure lucrative state contracts. Investigators and media reports have also linked the assassination to tensions between Moise and powerful figures allegedly connected to drug and arms trafficking.
Haiti has not had an elected president since Moise. The assassination plunged Haiti deeper into political turmoil and accelerated a security crisis that has allowed armed gangs to expand their control across much of the country.
US prosecutors initially charged Sanon with offenses related to the alleged smuggling of bulletproof vests to Haiti and later expanded the charges.
Sanon was originally expected to be the last defendant in the Miami case. But in August, US authorities charged 30 more suspects and brought 18 defendants from Haitian custody to the US.
Haiti is preparing for its first presidential election in a decade in December, but rampant gang violence and chronic corruption more than five years after Moise’s assassination have cast doubts on the prospects of a credible vote.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland; Editing by Emily Green and Cynthia Osterman)
