The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nicaragua, Francisco Aguirre Sacasa, 78, celebrates this Friday, October 28, 15 months after being taken as a political prisoner by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. The former foreign minister was imprisoned on July 27 after he tried to pass the Peñas Blanca border post, towards Costa Rica.
Since his capture, he was sent to the Judicial Assistance Directorate (DAJ), known as “El Chipote”, a center where political prisoners are subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. After spending four months in that torture prison, on February 21 of this year he was sent to house arrest for “health reasons,” according to the dictatorship, but that decision was made after the death in prison of Hugo Torres Jiménez.
Aguirre Sacasa, despite being under the “home detention” regime, maintains maximum restrictions by the Police at the service of the Ortega dictatorship. On repeated occasions, his son Roberto Aguirre, a renowned playwright in the United Stateshas demanded the unconditional release of his father.
According to the Public Ministry, Aguirre Sacasa “has carried out acts that undermine the independence, sovereignty and self-determination of Nicaragua, and has publicly incited foreign interference in internal affairs in different forums, proposing economic, commercial and financial blockades against of the country and its institutions.
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Francisco Aguirre Sacasa was accused of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity” to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua and Nicaraguan society, he was sentenced to eight years in prison and disqualified from holding public office, under the Sovereignty Law, a tool legal system invented by Ortega to imprison dissenting voices.
The arrest of the former liberal foreign minister generated a wave of international condemnation against the Nicaraguan dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. His son, a renowned playwright in the United States, raised his voice and pushed for the approval of the Renacer Law, a law that puts more pressure on the Managua regime.
The United States, renowned politicians, personalities and international human rights organizations have demanded that the former foreign minister be released, but the dictatorship turns a deaf ear to all requests.
Aguirre Sacasa is part of a group of 50 opponents who are imprisoned in El Chipote, accused of “treason against the fatherland”, thus expanding the list to more than 200 political prisoners. For its part, the Ortega dictatorship affirms that there are no prisoners in the country for political reasons, only criminals.
