Türkiye turns down Haitian murder extradition request

ISTANBUL

A Turkish court on July 4 turned down an extradition request for a suspect detained in connection with last year’s murder of Haitian president Jovenel Moise, local media reports said.

Samir Handal reportedly had Haitian, Jordanian and Palestinian passports at the time of his arrest on arrival at Istanbul Airport from the United States in November.

At the time, Haiti’s serving foreign minister Claude Joseph called Handal "one of the people of greatest interest to the investigation".

Handal’s lawyers argued that Interpol’s "red notice" has been lifted, and that he would be tortured if returned to Haiti as requested by authorities there, the DHA news agency reported, adding that the court ordered the suspect’s release.

Moise was shot last July at his home in Port-au-Prince and while dozens of people have been arrested, the identity of those who ordered the attack remains a mystery.

Three suspects - a former Haitian senator, a retired Colombian military officer, a Haitian-Chilean businessman - are currently on trial in Miami, facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The US justice system says it has jurisdiction in this case, arguing that part of the plan to kill the president was allegedly hatched in Florida.