What to know as trials over the assassination of Haiti's president resume in Miami

Five years after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, dozens of people arrested in connection with the killing in the troubled Caribbean nation are still awaiting trial in Miami.Haiti has not had a president since a squad of gunman killed Moïse and wounded his wife in an overnight raid at their home. prosecutors have charged more than 40 people with crimes related to the assassination and a dozen have been convicted, included five who are serving life sentences.Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Florida pastor and dual Haitian-American citizen who authorities said aspired to be Haiti’s president, was set to stand trial Monday in the next case to go before a jury. He faces eight charges connected to the assassination, including conspiring to kidnap or kill a person outside the U.S., and has pleaded not guilty.Federal prosecutors in the U.S.

say South Florida served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to oust Moïse and replace him with someone of the conspirators’ choosing.Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, and its history of dictatorship, political upheaval and foreign intervention has long stymied the consolidation of democratic rule.Prosecutions are being handled in the US instead of HaitiMoïse was killed on July 7, 2021, when about two dozen foreign mercenaries, mostly from Colombia, attacked his home near Port-au-Prince. The scheme to kill Moïse included paying mercenaries with money obtained from U.S. government programs that were intended to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to court records.In 2025, justice officials in Haiti asked the U.S.

and Canada for help after a local court of appeals ordered a new investigation into Moïse’s killing, the third inquiry of its kind since he was shot 12 times at his private residence. His wife, Martine, also was wounded in the attack.The previous investigations were stalled because Haitian judges kept resigning from the case, fearing for their lives, and gangs seized control of the downtown Port-au-Prince courthouse where the judges were interrogating suspects.Any proceedings in Haiti “continue to face significant difficulties,” the country’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said recently.Haiti has been overwhelmed by gang violence: More than 3,000 people were killed this year by June and about 1.5 million people have been displaced in rec… Haiti has not had a president since a squad of gunman killed Moïse and wounded his wife in an overnight raid at their home.

Christian Emmanuel Sanon, a Florida pastor and dual Haitian-American citizen who authorities said aspired to be Haiti’s president, was set to stand trial Monday in the next case to go before a jury. Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas, and its history of dictatorship, political upheaval and foreign intervention has long stymied the consolidation of democratic rule. Prosecutions are being handled in the US instead of Haiti Moïse was killed on July 7, 2021, when about two dozen foreign mercenaries, mostly from Colombia, attacked his home near Port-au-Prince.

In 2025, justice officials in Haiti asked the U.S. His wife, Martine, also was wounded in the attack. The previous investigations were stalled because Haitian judges kept resigning from the case, fearing for their lives, and gangs seized control of the downtown Port-au-Prince courthouse where the judges were interrogating suspects.

Any proceedings in Haiti “continue to face significant difficulties,” the country’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said recently. Haiti has been overwhelmed by gang violence: More than 3,000 people were killed this year by June and about 1.5 million people have been displa…