A police officer testified on Monday, March 7, before Judge Luden Martín Quiroz, of the Ninth Criminal District Court of Managua in the El Chipote prison, that they arrested at the end of last May on the street Walter Gómez, former financier of the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCh), But the reality is different. Reports from that time confirm that he was arbitrarily arrested at his home.
That was the first contradiction of the State, but more occurred than proved the fabrication of the “money laundering” accusation against the FVBCh. Lawyers consulted said that the lack of evidence in the process that restarted on March 4 under multiple irregularities is evident.
“After nine months deprived of liberty, the Prosecutor’s Office, which at the time requested the complex processing of the case, precisely because it allows twice the time to supposedly investigate, has not been able to prove absolutely no commission of crimes,” the source concluded.
The defendants are former presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro Barriosin her capacity as former president of the FVBCh, her brother Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, former deputy and former vice president of the organization, together with former financiers Gómez and Marcos Fletes, and driver Pedro Vásquez.
Since last Monday, 16 police officers have testified: nine did so on Monday and seven more on March 8 in the continuation of the impeachment trial that is taking place in a room at El Chipote prison, under the heavy presence of agents, which is considered as an act of intimidation by the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh).
The money laundering charge itself has been publicly challenged, because the agency’s main donor—the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—claimed on May 27, 2021 that there is no evidence for such a statement, but in addition, the trial began two months after the maximum term for sentencing, which was six months, had expired.
The contradictions, gaps and ignorance of the agents were noted at various times from Monday, while the Prosecutor’s Office was unconcerned at first and on Tuesday it was more aggressive. Probably, according to the same sources, this initial attitude is explained by a triumphalism motivated by the support of the judges who ensure the sentences of the political prisoners, a machine under the domination of the ruling party.
They testified about raids in which they did not participate
The testimonies collected by CONFIDENTIAL They indicate that the police officers who signed the search reports raised many questions. The same family members noted that those who spoke before the judge were not the same ones who participated in the acts of “investigation” that served as “evidence” against the accused.
“The officers said that they had not participated in the proceedings and that they had only signed them, they even went so far as to say that they did not know where the evidence that had been seized in the raids had gone and they could not even say what it was that they supposedly proved. with their statements,” they said.
The lack of solidity in the prosecutors’ work was exposed from the start by the civilians they called as witnesses. On Friday, March 4, hethey refuted the official version: described a transparent and professional relationship with the defunct Foundation.
The FVBCh was founded in 1998. It developed technical work, nationally and internationally recognized, in defense of freedom of the press, access to information and human rights in general. It closed operations on February 5, 2021, after the approval of the foreign agents law, one of the regime’s instruments to persecute associations.
According to the Public Ministry, the Foundation diverted funds from the media program to finance the “destabilization” of the regime. Among the beneficiaries of the funds, they listed 13 independent media outlets, four non-governmental organizations and seven journalists. As an act of intimidation against independent journalism, they paraded more than 60 journalists at the offices of the Public Ministry in Managua to explain their relationship with the FVBCh.
The official accusation supported the narrative without evidence from the State that he was the victim of a coup attempt in 2018, when international human rights organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), attached to the OAS, denounced the excessive use of the state force against the demonstrators who took to the streets to demand a change of government.
In June 2021, due to the accusation against the FVBCh, the presidential candidate Chamorro Barrios was inhibited, while the repression against the main political, civic and economic leaders of the country intensified.
Six presidential hopefuls more were arbitrarily captured and charged with the alleged crime of “undermining national integrity”, based on a repressive law approved by the Parliament with a Sandinista majority. Thus, Ortega closed the electoral process and guaranteed his re-election without political competition for a fourth consecutive term.
The deterioration of health of the defendants
The relatives of the political prisoners of the FVBCh denounced earlier this week the isolation to which they have subjected political prisoners, poor nutrition and psychological torture, such as the case of Walter Gómez, whom the officers told him to “collaborate” with the investigation in exchange for not harming his family.
The physical deterioration of each one of the detainees, and the psychological one as well, is the reason why the relatives ask that they be transferred to their homes under the precautionary measure of house arrest. One of the most prominent cases is that of the driver Pedro Vásquez, who suffers from high blood pressure. His wife denounced that he was taken to a clinic without being notified and fears for his life.
The extreme thinness of the defendants is also visible and some even have difficulty walking. The relatives recalled that on March 11, retired General Hugo Torres died in captivity. a hero of the struggle against the Somoza dictatorship, whom Ortega made a political prisoner last year. There are currently 177 prisoners of conscience in the country.
