The Daniel Ortega regime keeps behind bars at least 64 political prisonersof which 10 are women and 54 men, as detailed in the latest report of the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners in Nicaragua.
The list includes 10 detained opponents, prior to the civic rebellion that began on April 18, 2018, when the Nicaraguan dictatorship attacked the Nicaraguan people.
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With this count, the number of imprisoned opponents increases by 36%, leaving behind the 47 that were counted in the month of April, when the Ortega dictatorship intensified the wave of arrests.
They also point out that between May 8 and June 19, 2023 (the period covered by this report) there were 33 arrests for reasons of political persecution.
It also details that of the recent detainees, 12 are still in jail, “of which three have been added to this list, while the other nine are still in the process of recognition,” the report explains.
Regarding religious persecution, the Mechanism recorded the capture of four priests and at least 16 people belonging to the parishioner, including workers from Catholic NGOs.
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In this way, according to the report, the Ortega and Murillo administration continues “the repressive pattern of arbitrary detentions for the criminalization of religious freedom.”
May registered more arrests of opponents
On the other hand, the report highlights that May was the month with the most arrests, leaving a balance of at least 90 people among opponents, journalists and activists from various departments of the country.
“Most of them were imposed the alternative measure of house by jail and the daily signature in police stations. Therefore, to date, they are accounted for 81 people as illegally prosecuted”, explained.
It also points out that the number of politically-expressed people who have been captured and prosecuted again for political reasons has increased to 14.
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It also refers that the number of political prisoners in differentiated detention cells increased to 15, of which six are from the context of 2018 onwards and nine from the context prior to the civic rebellion.
The Mechanism stressed that of the 54 political prisoners in the context of April 2018, 53 are being held in the different centers of the National Penitentiary System and one is in a capital hospital. To this day, the Ortega regime refuses to release all the hostages of conscience.
