Antonio Emmanuela Intriago Valery, head of the security company that hired Colombian bodyguards suspected of the murder of the Haitian president, denied on Wednesday that his employees were involved in the attack on the head of state. His lawyers say their client has been scammed and the president’s bodyguards are to blame for the politician’s death, writes Reuters.
The murder of 53-year-old President Jovenel Moise and the shooting of his wife took place on the night of July 6-7 in the residence of the head of state. The first lady was taken to a hospital in Florida by helicopter in a serious condition. According to the PA, at least 26 people have been arrested so far, including 18 former Colombian soldiers.
Haitian investigators reported that some of the Colombians detained were hired by Miami-based security firm CTU Security, owned by Venezuelan immigrant Antonio Emmanuel Intriago Valery. According to media reports, the suspects testified that in Haiti they were supposed to protect, inter alia, President Moïse.
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Colombians detained after the assassination of the President of HaitiJean Marc Herve / EPA / PAP
Intriago lawyers’ statement
– Mr. Intriago did not know or participated in these tragic events – assured the Venezuelan lawyers.
According to lawyers, Intriago said that “unarmed” Colombian bodyguards were hired as personal bodyguards in Haiti, but at the last minute a change of plans was made and they were tasked with executing President Moise’s arrest warrant. The lawyers enclosed the order in their affidavit. The document, dated February 2019, bears the judge’s signature, writes Reuters. “When they entered the presidential residence, they found the late president, his wounded wife, and a plundered house,” the statement read. “We are convinced that the president’s bodyguards have betrayed him,” emphasize the lawyers.
“Mr. Intriago has fallen victim to an intricate plot,” they argue, assuring that Colombians working for CTU Security did not take any part in the attack on the President of Haiti.
This is – as Reuters notes – the first comment from the head of CTU Security on this matter.
Jovenel MoïseGregory Reed / Shutterstock
Search for suspects
Haitian authorities recently arrested the official who had acted as chief security coordinator when Moise was murdered. Jean Laguel Civil joined more than two dozen suspects arrested by the Haitian police in their investigation into the bombing, his lawyer Reynold Georges said Monday and called his client’s arrest politically motivated. “It’s also unclear whether Civil has been charged with anything,” he added.
Police are still looking for suspects, including a former rebel leader and former Haitian senator. On Monday, investigators identified another suspect – Haitian Supreme Court Judge Windelle Coq Thelot.
Main photo source: Jean Marc Herve / EPA / PAP