Protests Break Out at Haiti’s President’s Cemetery, Guests Run for Protection

CAP-HAITIEN – The funeral of Haitian President Jovenel Moise, who was killed on July 7, was disrupted by protests. Gunshots were reportedly heard and riot gas fired at the protesters. This situation prompted the United States (US) delegation and other high-ranking officials to duck into vehicles for safety.

Reuters witnesses smelled gas and heard explosions they believe to be gunfire outside the burial site.

There were no immediate reports of injuries among protesters or authorities, and there was no indication that guests at the funeral were in danger.

Troubles flared minutes after the church’s marching band and choir opened Moise’s funeral service, which takes place two weeks after he was killed in a still-unexplained murder at his home by foreign mercenaries.

The service went on, with speeches by family members, but was punctuated by angry shouts by supporters who accused authorities of being responsible for Moise’s death. Their words were sometimes drowned out by the strains of church music.

Read also: J ovenel Moise, Haitian President Massacred by Foreign Charges, Buried

Smoke billowed into the complex. Dozens of police and security personnel formed a protective line around the Haitian office in the stands.

Haitian officials who arrived at the event were met with verbal anger by protesters, with one man calling police chief Leon Charles a “criminal.”

“Why do you have all this security, where were the police on the day of the president’s assassination?” said one protester as quoted from Reuters, Saturday (24/7/2021).

– .