businessmen Michael Healey Y Alvaro Vargas, president and vice president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep), were sentenced for the alleged crime of “undermining national integrity” and for having “conspired against the rights of the Nicaraguan people and society.”
Ortega judge Ángel Jeancarlos Fernández González, of the Fourth Criminal District Court of Managua, sentenced Healy to 13 years in prison for “undermining national integrity” and nine years to Vargas for “conspiracy against national integrity.”
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The reading of the sentence took place after on April 29 the Nicaraguan justice and under the orders of the dictators Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo seated both leaders of the employer’s association on the defendant’s bench and declared them guilty.
The process against the two hostages of conscience took place in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), known as “El Nuevo Chipote”, in Managua, where they have been held captive for more than six months.
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) has described the process against all political prisoners imprisoned between May and November 2021 as a “judicial farce.”
Healy and Vargas were arrested on October 21, 2021. Healy was summoned to the Prosecutor’s Office for an “interview” in the case of the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (Funides), that same day he was arrested minutes after giving a statement before the Ortega authorities. While Vargas was captured in his home.
Cosep, in silence
Article 66 tried to communicate with the current president of Cosep, César Zamora, to find out the reaction of the employers to the prosecution of the two former leaders, however no communication could be established.
The only time that COSEP, under the administration of the energy sector businessman, demanded the freedom of political prisoners was on October 30, 2021. Through a 30-second video, the Daniel Ortega regime demanded the freedom of former directors of that organization José Adán Aguerri, Michael Healy and Álvaro Vargas.
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“Nicaragua requires an immediate solution to the sociopolitical crisis. Freedom for Michael Healy, Álvaro Vargas, José Adán Aguerri and all political prisoners”, was the content of the short video.
Like the other opponents locked up in “El Nuevo Chipote”, it is unknown if Healy and Vargas will be transferred to a prison system in the country. Their relatives have preferred to keep the situation of both political prisoners a secret.
