Fugitive Suspect In Assassination Of Haitian President Jovenel Moise Arrested In Turkey

Haiti is chaired by Jovenel Moise. (Instagram / @ jovenelmoise)

JAKARTA - The Turkish National Police arrested a Haitian businessman wanted for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise Monday night.

The suspect, identified as Samir Handal, is listed on an international arrest warrant. He was under Interpol surveillance and was arrested at Istanbul Airport after arriving on a transit flight from the United States, according to media reports.

A temporary detention order for 40 days was issued by the Ministry of Justice. Currently, the man who also has Palestinian and Jordanian passports is being held in Istanbul's Maltepe Prison, Turkey, citing Daily Sabah on November 16.

Haitian Foreign Minister Claude Joseph said on Twitter he spoke to his Turkish counterpart about the arrest but did not provide further details, including whether Haiti would seek the man's extradition.

He has been named a suspect in the plot to assassinate President Jovenel Moise, although the government has not yet detailed his alleged involvement.

To note, more than 40 suspects have been arrested so far in the president's assassination, including 18 former Colombian soldiers and several Haitian police officers.

Colombian authorities say the majority of its former soldiers are unaware of the true nature of the operation they are carrying out. In October, another Colombian man was arrested in Jamaica.

President Jovenel Moise was shot in his private home in a pre-dawn attack in which his wife, Martine Moise, was injured. The president's assassination deepens political instability in the country, which is already recovering from a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that killed more than 2,200 people in Haiti's southwestern region in mid-August, sparking a spike in gang-related violence and a fuel crisis.