On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the family of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who was assassinated at his home on Wednesday. “Saddened by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise and the attack on First Lady Martine Moise of Haiti. My condolences to the family of President Moise and the people of Haiti,” PM Modi posted on Twitter.
In his tweet, PM Modi also mentioned Haiti’s interim Prime Minister, Claude Joseph.
On Wednesday, Moise was assassinated at his home by an unidentified group of gunmen. Following the assassination, Haiti declared a 15-day state of emergency and launched a manhunt to apprehend the perpetrators.
At least 28 people have been arrested as of Friday morning, two of whom are of American descent. Colombians account for twenty-six of the others, according to national police director-general Leon Charles.
“We will strengthen our investigation and search techniques to intercept the other eight mercenaries,” Charles also said in the briefing.
On Thursday, police found a house of suspected assassins near the crime scene in Petionville, Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, where Moise and his wife were staying.
Officials in Haiti, which is mostly French and Creole-speaking, said the assassins appeared to speak in English and Spanish.
The police are also investigating the motive for the murder. Moise took office in 2017, and since then, he has faced mass protests against his rule, first over allegations of corruption and his economic management, and then over his growing power.
