The Nicaraguan National Police accepted that a group of imprisoned opponents receive visits, after 86 days without allowing it, the longest period of which it is known, their relatives reported this Sunday.
About twenty of the so-called “political prisoners” could be seen on Saturday by their relatives, who for security reasons have decided not to report the visits, a close friend of the convicts told EFE.
The visits were accepted four days after the relatives issued an “urgent appeal” because they did not know anything about the more than 76 opponents, some on hunger strike, held at the headquarters of the Directorate of Judicial Assistance known as “El Chipote ”, which has been denounced by human rights organizations as an alleged torture center for the National Police.
The inmates pay sentences of between 8 and 13 years for economic crimes and others considered “treason”, of which they have pleaded not guilty, in trials that NGOs such as the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, the Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, or the Permanent Commission on Human Rights, have indicated that they occur outside the law.
Related news: Political prisoners in “El Chipote” have served 40 days without receiving visits
Among the “political prisoners” is the former dissident Sandinista guerrilla Dora María Téllez, seven former candidates for the Presidency, as well as human rights defenders, journalists, businessmen, students, peasants, and others.
Last Tuesday, the relatives expressed their concern for the “political prisoners”, because in addition to remaining incommunicado, they allegedly suffer torture, are exposed to the cold, some under permanent light or constant darkness for 24 hours a day and do not have adequate food or care for their your health, among others.
According to data endorsed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), there are currently at least 220 “political prisoners” in Nicaragua, to which are added 22 complaints of new arrests made public in the context of the municipal elections on November 6. .
Related news: 69 days incommunicado, they demand visits to political prisoners
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CorteIDH) has ordered the release of dozens of these convicts, after accepting the provisional measures issued by the IACHR.
Nicaragua is experiencing a political and social crisis that began in April 2018 and worsened after the disputed re-election of the Sandinista leader as president in 2021.
