Jamaica's attorney general announced on the first day of the new year that former Colombian military officer Mario Antonio Palacios, suspected of murdering Haiti's president, would be deported to his home country. Haitian authorities are unlikely to get their hands on the suspect. The lack of necessary legal arrangements between the countries is to blame.

Haitian authorities accuse Palicios, 43, of being part of a group of 28 foreign mercenaries that stormed the residence of President Jovenel Moïs in July last year and killed him and wounded the First Lady. Three of the perpetrators were killed in a special operation, while 17 were detained. However, eight managed to escape outside Haiti and are wanted.

Palacios was arrested in Jamaica in October and convicted of illegally entering the country from the Dominican Republic. Haitian authorities, after learning of the Colombian military officer's detention, twice asked Kingston to extradite Palacios. But the first request was rejected. And the second proved, in the opinion of Jamaican authorities, to be insufficiently persuasive.

"The information provided does not prove that Palacios is the killer, in fact it indicates that he is a suspect in a case of attempted armed robbery. There are no further details,"-  said police spokeswoman Marlene Malahoo Forte. - "Our attempts to get more information from the Haitian government have been unsuccessful".

As a result, the Jamaican government has decided to deport the Colombian for violating migration rules back home. Haiti's request will also fail due to the fact that there is no mutual extradition treaty between Jamaica and Haiti.

Mario Antonio Palacios' lawyers have already demanded his immediate release from the Kingston Detention Centre, arguing that his detention there is illegal.

Palacios is ordered by the Jamaican Supreme Court to leave the country by January 3.