The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) acquitted the political prisoner Douglas Cerros Lanzas, sentenced last February to 12 years in prison for the alleged crimes of “conspiracy” and “propagation of false news.” Since the beginning of July, the prisoner of conscience was in family life.
According to the sentence of the Criminal Chamber, to which the Despacho 505 platform had access, the magistrates —Armengol Cuadra, Manuel Martínez and Elley Joy Lewin— point out the version of the police witnesses in the case as “not credible” and “impertinent”. trial against Cerros Lanzas, held last January and by Judge Verónica Fiallos Moncadahead of the Ocotal Criminal District Court.
“The defendant Douglas Alfredo Cerros Lanzas is acquitted for the crimes of spreading false news through Information and Communication Technologies, and for the crime of undermining national integrity through conspiracy to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua , because there is reasonable doubt ”, dictates the sentence.
Judge Fiallos imposed an eight-year sentence “for the crime of undermining national integrity (conspiracy)”, and another four years “for the crime of spreading false news through information and communication technologies” . In addition, she ordered the seizure of a Hilux truck, owned by the defendant’s wife.
Both alleged crimes are contained in the “Cybercrimes” and “Sovereignty” laws, approved at the end of 2020 and used by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo to imprison and sentence opposition leaders.
The ruling of the Criminal Chamber, issued on July 13, also revokes the judgment of the Court of Appeals of Estelí, of April 28, which ratified the sentence against the political prisoner.
cops version
In the trial against Cerros Lanzas, the head of the Ocotal Judicial Assistance Directorate, Deputy Commissioner Byron Mauricio Maradiaga Rubio, stated that he investigated and denounced the citizen because “they told him” that promoted the “no vote” in the 2021 presidential elections. Without any evidence, the police command affirmed that, in addition, they “told him” that the accused allegedly participated in meetings of opposition groups.
The evidence against Cerros Lanzas was published on his Facebook page, and the testimonies of six policemen, one of them hooded.
