Haiti declares 2 weeks of national mourning following president's assassination

The tribute to Moise is scheduled to start Thursday and end on July 22, according to an official decree published Wednesday.

The decree also detailed the "state of siege" which has been declared in Haiti for a period of 15 days following the assassination.

Haiti's acting Prime Minister Claude Joseph has assumed leadership of the country in the immediate aftermath of the attack and earlier declared the "state of siege" after a council of ministers meeting Wednesday morning.  

“I call on everyone to stay calm and I am very sorry to report to you the death of the president. Me and all the ministers have been working since the news broke and we want to assure you we will bring the killers of the president to justice. Please stay calm and let the authorities do their work. We don’t want the country to plunge into chaos. This is a very sad day for our nation and for our people,” Joseph said.

More context: Under Haitian law, there are three levels of emergency, starting with a “state of emergency,” followed by a “state of siege”, and finally the highest level of emergency, which is the “state of war.”  

A state-of-siege means all borders are closed and martial law is temporarily imposed, with Haiti’s military and the Haiti National Police (HNP) empowered to enforce the law.