The relatives of Nicaraguan opposition leader José Antonio Peraza, convicted of crimes considered “treason against the fatherland,” expressed this Friday their fear for his life because he allegedly suffers from “obvious” physical deterioration.
Karol Peraza, the prisoner’s sister, “denounced that she fears a lot for the life of her brother, who before being captured weighed 210 pounds and was strong and athletic,” reported the Be Human Nicaragua organization, made up of colleagues and friends of the “prisoners.” politicians”, as defined on its website.
Along with Peraza’s complaint, Be human Nicaragua showed a drawn image of the opponent’s face, which shows it deteriorated.
In Nicaragua there have already been two deaths of convicted opponents, former Sandinista guerrilla fighter and retired general Hugo Torres, and dual Nicaraguan and US citizen Eddy Montes Praslin.
Peraza, a political scientist, was a leader of the opposition Blue and White National Unity when he was captured in July 2021, in the midst of a wave of arrests months before the general elections in November of that year, and last February he was found guilty of crime of undermining national integrity to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Related news: Spoken portrait of José Antonio Peraza shows the consequences after more than a year locked up in “El Chipote”
According to the Mechanism for the recognition of persons imprisoned for political reasons in Nicaragua, whose data is endorsed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), there are 190 cases similar to Peraza’s in the Central American country.
Among the “political prisoners” are seven who had announced their aspirations to compete for the Presidency in the elections last November, in which Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, finally won a new re-election as president and vice president. , respectively.
This process was not recognized by part of the international community.
According to the IACHR and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Acnudh), the “political prisoners” of Nicaragua suffer “torture and mistreatment” in prison.
Since April 2018, Nicaragua has been experiencing a sociopolitical crisis that, according to the IACHR, has left at least 355 dead, while the Government recognizes 200 and denounces that it was an attempted coup.
