The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) denounced on Wednesday the “unusual and serious sentences” issued by the Nicaraguan Judiciary against a priest and three relatives of a dissenter, and warned that the situation in the Central American country “violates due process”.
Through Twitter, the office pointed out that these actions confirm that “the persecution” of the administration of President Daniel Ortega against its critics “has no limits.”
The statement came after the sentences on Wednesday were sentenced by the Judiciary to Nicaraguan-French citizens Jeannine Horvilleur, 63, and Ana Carolina Álvarez, 43. Both were sentenced to 8 years in prison for the alleged crimes of ” conspiracy to undermine national integrity” and for alleged “propagation of false news.”
The two were arrested on September 13, 2022 when, according to complaints from human rights organizations, when the authorities were looking for the opponent Álvarez Zamora, who managed to leave the country to take refuge.
However, when they were not found, these people were arrested, as was Félix Sotomayor, the opponent’s son-in-law, who was also sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison for the same crimes.
Also on Monday, the priest was found guilty of “conspiracy and propagation of false news”. Oscar Benavidez, critical of Ortega.
The lawyer and former official of the Judiciary Yader Morazán assured that this is the first priest “investigated, accused and tried” for this legal case.
The Prosecutor’s Office requested 8 years in prison for the religious, according to local Nicaraguan media.
Currently in Nicaragua there are more than 200 political prisoners, including former presidential candidates, former diplomats, students and people from civil society, who questioned Ortega about the direction in which the country was leading.
Ortega has said that the political prisoners are “criminals” who, according to him, tried to carry out a coup during the 2018 demonstrations.
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