At least 62 Nicaraguan opponents were arrested in the framework of the municipal elections held on the 6th, of which 41 remain in prison, human rights organizations denounced on Friday, which demanded an end to the repression against citizens.
The Nicaragua Human Rights Collective Nunca Más condemned the repressive wave of police and parapolice against the population of the Caribbean Coast who are claiming irregularities in the results of the municipal elections on November 6.
The organization pointed out that dozens of people have been attacked and persecuted in the region, mainly indigenous and Afro-descendant youth. He also denounced the arbitrary arrests and criminalization of opponents; in particular, the arrests of Mildred Rayo, Miguel Flores and Karla Vega, as well as dozens of citizens who prefer to keep their case private for fear of reprisals.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) pointed out that the recent municipal votes in Nicaragua were undemocratic and have consolidated the trend seen since 2012 when the regime began progressive control of local administrations.
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The Police seized this Friday the facilities of the Radio Mi Voz radio station, located in the city of León, assured the organization Alerts Libertad de Prensa Nicaragua.
Through its social networks, the organization indicated that sources close to the media detailed that, while the newscasts “En Primicias” and “En Titulares” were broadcast, riot police and police forcefully entered the place.
The station that was broadcast on the 96.9 FM frequency went off the air after the breach. The outlet is run by journalist Álvaro Montalván who has been the target of persecution since 2018 by the Ortega-Murillo regime.
In a report titled «Crisis in Nicaragua: Municipal elections and violation of civil and political rights»the agency details the irregularities that took place before, during and after election day.
In it, he highlights that, like the 2021 presidential elections, the municipal ones were not “free, fair, or transparent and without democratic legitimacy.”
Concern for the health of the sports journalist and political prisoner grows Michael Mendoza, who has already completed two months on a hunger strike, according to their relatives.
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The journalist has spent 514 days in prison and almost three months without being seen. His wife, Margin Pozo, points out that “the times that the officials who receive the water have been asked about Miguel, they say that they are not authorized to give information, which is desperate for the family.”
Mendoza suffers from various illnesses and, since his confinement in 2021, he has lost more than 30 pounds, has not had access to private medical care, nor is he allowed to see his eight-year-old daughter.
The Member of the European Parliament for the Popular Party (PP) Pablo Arias joined the campaign “Breaking chains, sponsor a political prisoner” from the Casla Institute. In his case, he decided to represent the Nicaraguan political prisoner and former presidential candidate Juan Sebastian Chamorroheld captive for more than 500 days in the cells of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ) in Managua.
Former Sandinista guerrilla Moisés Hassan, who was a member of the National Reconstruction Governing Board in the 1980s together with the dictator Daniel Ortega, sees disagreements within the ranks of the regime.
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The recent resignation of Sandinista comptroller Marisol Castillo is for Hassan a sign of weakness within the ruling party.
Hassan said in this regard that the situation of Marisol Castillo shows that there is “internal discontent” in the ranks of the regime, for which reason Ortega continues to commit clumsiness after clumsiness “to show strength”:
Moisés Hassan, who is also Rosario Murillo’s ex-brother-in-law, in turn referred to the situation of political prisoners. For him, Ortega will have to find a solution in the medium term.
