The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) warned this Saturday, September 17, that the life of the political prisoner Dora María Téllez “is in danger”, due to her advanced age and the serious physical deterioration she has experienced during the year she has been imprisoned and in solitary confinement within the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, known as El Chipote.
“Since the last time we saw her in the derision that the Ortega-Murillo regime called ‘informative hearings’, 17 days have passed and we know nothing about her,” Cenidh warned.
“On that occasion we were able to verify his physical deterioration, the mark of torture on his visibly pale, weak and thin body. How can a person in that state and at that age continue to resist?” the organization questioned.
However, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo maintains “total silence and secrecy” about the health situation of the political prisoner and former guerrilla commander. Therefore, “we are terrified to think how this (physical) deterioration has advanced and the fatal and irreparable consequences that it may cause them,” continued the Cenidh.
For this human rights organization, the case of Dora María Téllez merits “at least” a change in the prison system. She “can’t continue in El Chipote. We hold the regime and especially the Supreme Court of Justice and the Directorate of Judicial Assistance responsible for what may happen to it. Her life is in danger, ”she stressed.
URGENT ALERT by Dora María Téllez @DoraMTellez YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER IN EL CHIPOTE, we demand your immediate freedom and that of all political prisoners. @IACHR #MESENI @OHCHR
either … pic.twitter.com/tlpbYYMhM0
— Cenidh (@cenidh) September 17, 2022
extreme thinness
At the end of August the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship presented for the first time the four political prisoners that, for more than 14 months, has been isolated and in solitary confinement, including the former Sandinista guerrilla. Official media showed photographs in which her extreme thinness is observed and her face looks quite aged.
Téllez has been detained in El Chipote since June 13, 2021. There she was sentenced —in a closed-door trial— to eight years in prison for allegedly “conspiring to undermine national integrity to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua and Nicaraguan society.
On July 19, Téllez’s family released a spoken portrait, through the “Sé Humano” campaign, in which they gave an approximation of his physical deterioration. “She looks very thin, aged, completely pale, her skin is almost translucent, you can even see her veins. She has lost about 16 pounds in weight and prior to her arrest she did not suffer from any chronic disease. Today her life is in danger, “they warned.
In this context, the Sorbonne University, in Paris, awarded Téllez an honorary doctorate, which has the approval of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, according to a communication that this prestigious university sent to him. his family on May 19.
The delivery ceremony is scheduled to take place in Paris, France, on a date between November 28, December 9 or December 14, 2022. In an interview on the program This week, Óscar Téllez, revealed that his sister Dora María received the news in prison, “very honored, with great pleasure”, during the eighth visit that political prisoners have had in a year.
Téllez hopes that by the date of the ceremony, Dora María will have regained her freedom and will be able to go to receive the title in person, although if by then she continues to be imprisoned on the orders of Ortega and Murillo, she would have to designate another person to receive it in her Name.
