Joseph family hunts new asylum option
Published:Friday | March 11, 2022 | 12:10 AM
The wife and sons of former Haitian senator John Joseph, a suspect in the murder of Haiti President Jovenel Moϊse, are pursuing an option for asylum other than Jamaica.
Attorney-at-law Donahue Martin, who is representing the family, had previously informed the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court that he had applied for refugee status for the senator’s wife, Edume, 38, and their sons, Schopenhauer, 17, and Abaku, nine, in February and had asked the court to delay taking their plea on a charge of illegal entry.
But when the matter was mentioned Thursday, Martin asked for a final adjournment in light of a new option for refugee status for the trio.
“There is a particular discussion that is to be with our counterparts elsewhere, and I believe that particular discussions [will] bear some fruits in relation to the status of three of the persons before the courts,” the attorney told Senior Parish Judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montaque.
While pointing out that she understood the sensitive nature of the matter, the judge warned that she was granting further adjournment for the last time.
“It should be the final date for the matter in the parish court,” said Judge Cole-Montaque.
All four accused were remanded. They are to return to court on March 24.
Joseph and his family were arrested on January 14 during a police operation in Warminster district in St Elizabeth.
The attorney has maintained that his client’s safety is at risk in Haiti and that they fled the country out of fear for their lives after Edume was attacked by a gunman.
John Joel, 59, is reportedly listed among five fugitives who are wanted in connection with the then president’s assassination.
He is accused of reportedly renting four vehicles that were used by Colombian assassins on the night of the deadly attack.
Moϊse was killed at his private residence overlooking the capital on July 7, 2021.
He was reportedly shot 12 times and had bullet wounds to his forehead and several to his torso.
His left eye had been gouged and bones reportedly broken.
Moϊse’s wife, Martine, was shot in the incident but survived.
Another key suspect in the murder plot, ex-Colombian military officer Mario Antonio Palacios, was deported from Jamaica on January 3 after his immigration breach conviction.