Photo of Haiti lawyer misrepresented as image of assassinated president
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on July 9, 2021 at 17:40
- Updated on July 9, 2021 at 19:25
- 2 min read
- By Louis BAUDOIN-LAARMAN, AFP USA
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"Haitian President Jovenel Moise's Dead Body," reads the text above an image on the Street Juice TV website.
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Similar posts were shared on Instagram as well as in Spanish on Facebook following Moise's July 7 assassination.
Armed men entered the president's residence on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince early that day, fatally shooting him and wounding first lady Martine Moise, who is receiving treatment in the United States.
However, the body in the photo shared online does not show the deceased president.
Amelie Barron, an AFP correspondent in Haiti said the image shows the body of Dorval, the popular president of the Port-au-Prince bar association who was killed on August 29, 2020.
"It circulated right away that day," Barron said.
A reverse image search also found that it appeared in a September 1 Associated Press photo of a protester lying on the ground covered in pictures of Dorval -- more than 10 months before Moise's assassination.
Haiti's police said on July 8 that at least 28 people carried out Moise's assassination, 26 Colombians and two Americans of Haitian origin. The assassins appear to have been professional mercenaries, and six of the Colombians could be ex-military, according to the country's defense minister.
AFP Fact Check previously debunked the false claim that Haiti's first lady died of wounds received in the attack.
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