The former guerrilla and political leader Dora María Téllez was sentenced to eight years in prison for the alleged crime of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity,” confirmed the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh).
For the same alleged crime, the university leader was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Lesther Germanwho in 2018 summoned Daniel Ortega to resign in the first national dialogue after the repression in April.
In addition, political prisoner Yaser Vado, also blamed for allegedly “spread of fake news” He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and the political prisoner, Yader Parajón, to ten years jail, found CONFIDENTIAL.
The reading of the sentence of the four political prisoners was read on the afternoon of this Thursday, February 10, without the presence of their relatives, at the Evaristo Vásquez Police Complex, the “Chipote”.
“Act of revenge”
The Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN) denounced that the trial against Alemán is a “act of revenge for Lesther’s rebuke of Daniel Ortega on national television and for the threat he represents to the dictatorship”. The student leader has been persecuted and unfairly prosecuted, reads a statement posted on Twitter.
#Urgent | Judge Nadia Camila Tardencilla Rodríguez sentenced Lesther Alemán to 13 years in prison and disqualification from holding public office. pic.twitter.com/viwpMg1z2n
– AUN (@AUNNicaragua) February 10, 2022
Vado and Parajón were the first political prisoners of more than thirty opponents imprisoned in the “Chipote”, who faced Ortega justice, declaring them guilty of crimes fabricated by the Public Ministry.
However, now they became, together with Alemán and Téllez, the third group of convicted prisoners. Last Monday, February 7, the former president of the Renovating Democratic Union (Unamos), Ana Margarita Vijil, was sentenced to ten years in prison and this Wednesday, the journalist and presidential candidate, Miguel Mora, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The political prisoners sentenced so far —except for Vado and Parajón—, were also disqualified from holding public office.
Among the evidence that the Prosecutor’s Office cited against the former guerrilla, during impeachment developed in the “Chipote” on February 3, there are retweets that Téllez made of publications by José Miguel Vivanco, former director of Human Rights Watch; a retweet from a private person who had shared the letter that US senators sent to President Joe Biden in June 2021, urging him to take additional measures, in response to the worsening repression in Nicaragua and interviews he gave to the media independent.
During his intervention in the trial, led by Ángel Jeancarlos Fernández González, Téllez claimed for the violation of his rights committed over more than two hundred days of confinement in the “Chipote”, and assured that Nicaragua is a republic, not a monarchy; “Prey or free, I will continue fighting,” he said.
In contrast, Judge Nadia Camila Tardencilla, silenced the political prisoner Alemán, who barely managed to say that he was innocent. Her lawyer was also prevented from speaking, contesting or questioning, denounced the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN).
? Resolutive part of the sentence against Dora María Téllez, the reading was done without the presence of her relatives, because in Chipote they were denied entry, we reiterate our repudiation of these sentences issued by the spurious Judicial Power, #SonInocentes #NullSentences pic.twitter.com/71Qre0yfyO
— Cenidh (@cenidh) February 10, 2022
Against Ford and Parajon, the Prosecutor’s Office used police officers as witnesses in the trial, led by Ulisa Yahosca Tapia Silva. Three agents gave conflicting accounts and one was reluctant to respond. The evidence presented failed to prove any crime, he learned CONFIDENTIAL. Contrary to the rest of the political trials, which were reactivated by the Ortega regime on January 24, it was the only one in which relatives of political prisoners were denied entry. In the other cases they have allowed the participation of a family member in the hearing.
Lawyer Geneser: “political prisoners are in a situation of extreme risk”
In a statement, Jared Genser, international lawyer for presidential hopefuls Félix Maradiaga and Juan Sebastián Chamorro, pointed out that the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo is advancing in a “unbridled repression in Nicaragua by trying and sentencing political prisoners after illegitimate trials held behind closed doors and illegally held in the prison known as Nuevo Chipote”.
The trials of the pre-candidates will take place on February 15, together with opponents Violeta Granera, Tamara Dávilla, José Pallais, Arturo Cruz and José Adán Aguerri.
Genser pointed out that as has happened with other prisoners of conscience, anticipate “who will be tried and sentenced in the coming weeks, as part of this judicial farce perpetrated by the regime”.
The relatives of @Jschamorrog Y @maradiaga We continue to demand the immediate and guaranteed release of more than 170 political prisoners. We reject the continuation of this judicial farce to justify arbitrary detention.#Freedom for political prisonershttps://t.co/Ggr322N6kJ pic.twitter.com/yelbaVj7tO
– Juan Sebastián Chamorro (@Jschamorrog) February 10, 2022
“Ortega and Murillo manipulate the Nicaraguan Judiciary as a political tool to convict anyone who speaks out against their regime”he expressed.
He added that “political prisoners are in a situation of extreme risk, since the regime flagrantly violates their human rights and those of the Nicaraguan people. Ortega and Murillo believe they can act with impunity. The international community must act urgently and in a coordinated manner to force the regime to stop this farce and release political prisoners immediately and unconditionally.”he demanded.
