Haitian President Jovenel Moise Assassinated At His Residence, First Lady Also Injured

Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated at his residence last night. That incident prompted Haiti’s acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph to announce a ‘state of siege’ in a message to the nation. Joseph declared the ‘state of siege’ after the decision was made at an extraordinary council of minister meeting this morning. Under Haitian law, there are three levels of emergency and ‘state of siege’ is the 2nd level followed by ‘state of war’.

A ‘state of siege’ means that all borders are closed and martial law is temporarily imposed with Haiti’s military and the Haiti National Police empowered to enforce the law. Haiti’s international airport has also been closed following the assassination. According to Haitian law, normally the President of the Supreme Court would fill the position but he recently died after contracting the Coronavirus, his funeral was scheduled for today. The first lady was also wounded in the attack.