Jovenel Moïse, Haiti’s murdered president, has been laid to rest today, more than two weeks after he was assassinated in a late-night raid.
Pallbearers dressed in military uniforms carried the body of late Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in a closed wooden coffin as his funeral began.
The casket of Moïse was draped in the Haitian flag and adorned with white flowers.
In an auditorium, the polished casket was placed on a dais adorned with flowers by the pallbearers. A Roman Catholic priest blessed the coffin, and the Haitian flag was unfurled.
Helen La Lime, the United Nations Secretary-Special General’s Representative for Haiti, was among those present. The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is leading a delegation from the United States.
There was tension in Haiti’s north, where Moïse was born, ahead of the funeral, as demonstrators set up roadblocks and demanded accountability for the president’s death.
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According to the Associated Press, one man appeared to have been shot dead on Wednesday in Quartier-Morin, a commune outside of Cap-Hatien.
Recall that gunmen stormed into his home and shot him dead in the early hours of July 7. Martine Moïse, his wife was also injured in the attack that killed her husband.
More than 20 people have been arrested, including two Haitian Americans and several former Colombian soldiers, but the exact motive for the killing is unknown.
The assassination has also created uncertainty about who would lead Haiti in the event of the death of the president, with three politicians claiming to be the rightful leader. Ariel Henry was sworn in as the country’s new prime minister on Tuesday after interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph agreed to step down.
