Journalism in Nicaragua came under attack once again from the Daniel Ortega regime. Southern Voices Last March, it registered 103 attacks on freedom of the press, including threats and defamation of journalists, convictions of seven political prisoners linked to the trade, and the confiscation ordered by the judiciary of the facilities of the newspaper La Prensa, the oldest in the country.
According to the report, the majority of attacks on freedom of the press were directed against the media (94), followed by natural persons (8) and one that was directed against a union organization.
?️REPORT ?? //In March, a commemorative month for Nicaraguan journalists, the violations of Freedom of the Press did not stop; however, the press people expressed their firmness in continuing to report, faithful to ethics and responsibility. https://t.co/1g6y0rbcLG
— Voices from the South (@VDSorg) April 13, 2022
“In the month in which Nicaraguan journalists commemorate their national day, the violations of Freedom of the Press did not cease,” laments the report that contrasts the aggressive attitude of power with that of men and women of the press who continue to inform their audiences, despite adversity.
Voces del Sur said that in three cases the victims of aggression requested that their stories not be made public to avoid further repercussions, which they explain is due to the fact that the complaint has been criminalized by the State.
72 journalists in exile in nine months
They also maintain that, between June 2021 and March 2022, at least 72 independent journalists and media owners have been forced into exile.
In addition to journalists, other professionals have also chosen to leave Nicaragua to protect their safety, including some who collaborate with non-governmental organizations in the areas of projects or public relations.
“In the same way, lawyers who have provided their services to organizations or private individuals recognized as opponents have had to leave the country in the face of sieges, threats of imprisonment and cancellation of the authorizations issued by the Supreme Court of Justice so that they can exercise the office in the country,” they added, without mentioning names.
The document highlights the denunciation of journalism Wilmer Benavides, who was threatened with death by unknown individuals for his informative work, using stigmatizing language due to his sexual orientation. They also mention the case of Jennifer Ortiz, director of the information portal Nicaragua Investiga, who was defamed by the ruling party.
The sentences mentioned were given specifically in three cases. The first is that of the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundationaccused of the alleged crime of “money laundering” by the regime, in a process considered by experts to be fabricated, given that the State was never able to prove the crime.
Thanks to the control of the judiciary, Ortega sentenced the former president of the FVBC to eight years in prison, Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, former presidential candidate to which Ortega removed the possibility of participating in the voting last year in the repressive escalation with which the dictatorship eliminated electoral competition.
They also imposed sentences on his brother, Pedro Joaquín, former vice president of the FVBCh—nine years—and the administrative workers Marcos Fletes and Walter Gómez—both 13 years—while the driver Pedro Vásquez received seven years in prison.
The same is the process of political commentator Jaime Arellano, sentenced to 13 years for the alleged crime of “conspiring to undermine national integrity.”
In the case of the newspaper La Prensa, victim of the Ortega siege, its general manager, John Lawrence Holman, was sentenced to nine years in prison also for the alleged crime of money laundering. Judge Nadia Tardencilla also decided to keep the newspaper’s facilities occupied by the Police, who have been on the site since August of last year.
“With this decision adopted by the judge, at the service of the regime; Not only is the right to free expression violated, but other constitutional rights are also violated, such as the right to private property, the right to work and the constitutional prohibition on the confiscation of real estate,” says Voces del Sur.
The report cites the statements of the president of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), Jorge Canahuati, about the Nicaraguan reality. “We are facing one of the fiercest dictatorships in Latin American history,” he lamented.
The IAPA is an organization, made up of 1,300 affiliated publications on the Continent, that has denounced the brutality of state repression, unleashed by the Ortega and Murillo regime in April 2018 against society in general and independent journalism.
