October 23, 2026
The Port-au-Prince Court of Appeal continues its examination of the vast case relating to the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, which occurred on the night of July 6–7, 2021. In this context, Judge Jean Dénis Cyprien has issued a summons warrant against former Minister of Justice Rockfeller Vincent, who is being prosecuted for alleged acts of “criminal conspiracy, assassination, and attempted assassination” targeting the former head of state as well as his wife, Martine Moïse.
The same court has also ordered the arrest of journalist Jean Ménard Métellus, accused in the same case and suspected in particular of criminal conspiracy and attempted assassination. According to available information, this decision follows several summonses that went unanswered, with the magistrate having asked the DCPJ (Haitian National Police’s Central Directorate of the Judicial Police) to take all necessary measures to execute this warrant, including abroad with the support of INTERPOL.
Nearly five years after the tragedy that shook the national political landscape, the investigation remains fragmented between Haiti and the United States. In Haiti, more than fifty people have been indicted or named in the case, including former senior officials, police officers, businesspeople, and several Colombian nationals, while judicial proceedings continue to face the country’s security and institutional instability.
In the United States, the federal justice system has obtained several major convictions. In May 2026, a Miami jury found four defendants guilty of involvement in the conspiracy that led to the assassination of Jovenel Moïse, while other defendants had already pleaded guilty and received life sentences, with U.S. investigators estimating that a significant portion of the planning and financing of the operation was organized from Florida.
