As of March 31, 2023, the 36 political prisoners, captives in the different prisons of the Daniel Ortega regime, as reported by the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners of Nicaragua.
Of the total number of imprisoned opponents, 26 were kidnapped in the context of the 2018 social protests, while the other 10 are detained prior to the civic rebellion in April.
Related news: Ortega has 37 political prisoners distributed in five Nicaraguan prisons
The Mechanism explained that in the previous month 37 political prisoners had been counted, of those four were released, but three people were added to the list, to reach a total of 36 kidnapped by the Ortega dictatorship.
From the list of political prisoners in Nicaragua, only one woman is counted, detained in the Women’s Penitentiary System, known as La Esperanza, in Tipitapa.
Currently four opponents are in a maximum security area and one in a punishment cell. The Mechanism also refers that nine out of 10 opponents were previously in maximum security cells.
Regarding the age range of the political prisoners, it was noted that there are a total of four older adults, of which two have been imprisoned since before the 2018 rebellion.
Related news: Ortega police kidnap Jasson Salazar, youth opposition leader
All the current political prisoners are being held in the different prison systems of the country, with the exception of one who is hospitalized and in police custody.
For its part, the Be Human campaign recalled that the causes of the arrest of the opponents are due to the fact that they “think differently” from the dictatorial policy of the government of Daniel Ortega, for which they call to raise their voices “for all the people in prison policies in Nicaragua.
On February 9, the Government of Nicaragua released and exiled 222 former political prisoners, however it has increased its repression against opponents, activists and Catholic priests.
On the morning of Tuesday, April 4, the Police kidnapped the youth leader Jason Salazar; if the 26-year-old is prosecuted, he would join the list of political kidnappings in Nicaragua.
