Haiti’s President sends top judges into retirement as turmoil deepens

Haiti’s disputed leader Jovenel Moise has sent three top judges into retirement, including one chosen by the country’s opposition as the transitional president, local media reported on Tuesday.
Moise signed a decree late on Monday to send the Supreme Court judges into retirement.
One was 72-year-old Joseph Mecene Jean-Louis, the oldest judge in the country’s Supreme Court.
In a brief address earlier on Monday, he had announced his acceptance of the appointment as transitional president by the opposition and civil society.
Another of the judges was one of the 23 people who Moise said was detained on Sunday in a coup attempt against him.
Two journalists were shot in protests against Moise in the capital Port-au-Prince on Monday, Le Nouvelliste newspaper reported.
Moise’s supporters and opponents are embroiled in a bitter dispute over when his term began, and therefore when it will end.
In Haiti, presidential terms last for five years and always begin on February 7, after elections.
The presidential election in October 2015, in which Moise was elected in the first round, was annulled because of fraud.
A year later, he was declared the winner in the second round of the repeat election and was finally sworn in on Feb. 7, 2017.
Moise and his supporters say his term began in 2017 and will continue for another year.
But according to his opponents, Moise’s term began in February 2016, so it ended on Sunday.
For more than two years, Haiti has repeatedly been brought to a standstill by sometimes violent protests demanding Moise’s resignation.
His detractors accuse him of corruption, and many say he remains in office thanks largely to U.S support.