Relatives of political prisoners from El Chipote – imprisoned in the context of the 2021 general elections – fear that the health of their relatives could worsen due to the prison conditions in which they are kept and the lack of timely and specialized medical attention, which they confirmed after the ninth period of visits authorized by the Ortega-Murillo regime between July 22 and 24.
María Consuelo Céspedes, wife of political prisoner Walter Gómez, denounced that her husband is “extremely thin” and has an injury to the ring finger of his left foot, which he suffered inside the cells of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, known as El Chipote , on June 15, and the authorities continue to fail to provide him with timely and specialized medical care.
“Now she is size S in uniform and before she was XL, imagine how serious her thinness is. Also, we noticed during the visit that he has an injury to the ring finger of his left foot, which he says was done by jumping, but to me it was fractured because it is super inflamed, the upper part of the toe is black and it looks dark. one side,” Céspedes said during a virtual press conference in which the relatives of the political prisoners imprisoned in El Chipote presented a joint statement.
She explained that her husband’s injury was checked inside El Chipote, but the personnel who treated him did not give him an exact diagnosis and did not perform any tests on him.
“First they told him it was a sprain and more recently they told him it was tendonitis, but until they do a plate they will not know if that finger is broken, so that is my concern, that they let him go and then this it gets worse and affects his foot,” said Céspedes.
Miguel Mora demands to see his son
Verónica Chávez, wife of journalist and former presidential candidate Miguel Mora, warned that “his life is at risk”, as he began a hunger strike, demanding that the authorities of El Chipote allow his son Miguelito, who has a motor disability , you can visit it.
“We learned that he has been on a hunger strike for more than 30 days, asking to see our son and we are extremely concerned about that extreme decision he took, risking his own life, due to the lack of response,” Chavez said.
In addition, he questioned that the authorities of El Chipote do not authorize the entrance of Miguelito to the visits, despite the fact that he meets the requirement of being of legal age.
“We wonder why they don’t let my son see it. Miguelito is a 21-year-old young man and we see him as a child because he has a motor disability, we keep him in a wheelchair, and the truth is that he is suffering a lot from the estrangement from his father and has been having repercussions on his health. “, he claimed.
Chávez called on the State of Nicaragua to protect the physical integrity of her husband and to give a positive response so that Miguelito can meet his father.
Félix Maradiaga’s hunger strike prevented
Berta Valle, wife of the opponent and former candidate for the presidency Félix Maradiaga, affirmed that in this new period of visits they confirmed that her husband could not continue with the hunger strike that began on June 21, because the authorities of El Chipote “did not They allowed him to continue.”
Valle said that he did not have details of how they prevented Félix’s hunger strike, since during the visit there was harassment.
“He had started that hunger strike to demand an end to solitary confinement and solitary confinement, in which they had women in particular, also to demand an end to solitary confinement with relatives, as in the case of us, who are outside and we can’t see him in person,” he said.
She stressed that as an effect of the actions they have taken to denounce the conditions in which their relatives find themselves, such as the spoken portrait campaign, they achieved some changes in the treatment received by political prisoners, including her husband, since they learned that there had been a increase in the portions of food received and in the number of hours in the sun, which went from once every ten days to twice a week.
Relatives demand an end to isolation and incommunicado detention
The relatives of the political prisoners of El Chipote, in a joint statement, demanded an end to the isolation and incommunicado detention, especially in which the political prisoners Dora María Téllez, Tamara Dávila, Ana Margarita Vijil and Suyen Barahona, who for They remain alone in a cell for more than a year.
They also urged access to specialized and timely medical attention, both for the political prisoners who are in El Chipote, and for those who were sent to their homes under house arrest.
The document highlights that the lack of specialized medical care, which allows clear diagnoses and required treatments, puts the lives of political prisoners at risk.
Other family requests include: healthy prison conditions, regular visits, access to telephone calls and correspondence, entry of reading and writing material, increased food rations that include a balanced diet, delivery of weekly parcels and common patio hours. sun.
