On April 21, 2024, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued the Resolution 23/2024through which it grants precautionary measures for 11 members of the evangelical church Mountain Gate, including the leader of that organization based in the United States, and his wife, who were locked up by the Sandinista dictatorship between December 12 and 17, 2023, and accused of money laundering crimes.
The male beneficiaries of this precautionary measure are identified in the resolution as Walner Omier Blandón Ochoa (41 years)José Luis Orozco Urrutia (47 years), Alvaro Daniel Escobar Caldera (42 years), Juan Carlos Chavarría Zapata (57 years old), Marcos Sergio Hernández Jirón (57 years old), Juan Luis Moncada (51 years), Orvin Alexis Moncada Castellano (25 years), Harry Lening Rios Bravo (45 years), Manuel De Jesús Ríos Flores (53 years), Cesar Facundo Burgalín Miranda (43 years).
The only woman who is included in this list of beneficiaries by the IACHR is identified as Marisela de Fátima Mejía Ruiz (40 years old), who, according to the documentation published by the Commission, is a religious leader of the same evangelical congregation and wife of Walner Omier Blandón Ochoa.
In other news: Evangelical organization affirms that Ortega has guaranteed “religious freedom”, despite persecution and siege of pastors
Regarding Mejía Ruiz, the IACHR adds that “It was reported that at the time of his arrest he was two months after giving birth to her second child. To date, he would still be breastfeeding, which would have been interrupted by his arrest. Likewise, the relationship with his two-year-old first daughter would have been interrupted. “The prison officials would not allow her to see his children during her stay in prison.”
The press release in which this resolution is reported adds that the woman “would not be receiving post-natal care or adequate nutrition.”
“After analyzing the factual and legal allegations referred to in this matter, the IACHR considered that the 11 beneficiaries “They are in a situation of risk and are likely to be exposed to a greater impact on their rights, given the condition of deprivation of liberty, their current state of health and the lack of access to adequate medical care,” states the rights entity. humans.
The IACHR concludes by requesting the State of Nicaragua, controlled entirely by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, to adopt measures to protect the life and health of the beneficiaries. It also asks them to report on the situation in which those deprived of liberty find themselves, to ensure the conditions of detention are compatible with international standards and to ensure access to necessary health care, according to their illnesses.
At the same time, he asks Ortega to allow contact with his relatives and access to lawyers, while evaluating the granting of alternative measures of deprivation of liberty.
The attack against Puerta de la Montaña
Between December 12 and 17, 2023, the Ortega Police arrested different shepherds from Puerta de la Montaña. According to the official statement from the government body, the organization served as a “front” for the entry of “illicit money” into Nicaragua, which was invested in the purchase of movable and immovable property.
Related news: Ortega regime condemns members of Puerta de la Montaña and imposes an individual fine of US$ 80 million
The trial against the members of the Christian organization was held behind closed doors. A source from that evangelical congregation told the media that “the condemnatory resolution was communicated to the accused and their lawyers” on Wednesday, March 20.
The Ortega-Murillo dictatorship sentenced the religious to serve sentences of between 12 and 15 years in prison already pay a fine of 80 million dollars per person, for the crime of “aggravated money laundering.” The sentence was handed down on March 19 in the Fifth Criminal Trial District Court, in Managua, by the Ortega judge. Gloria María Saavedra Corralesidentified as one of the judicial executioners that Ortega has at his disposal to condemn people who are political objectives of the regime.
Although the IACHR only includes among the beneficiaries the 11 people identified as shepherds from Puerta de la Montaña, the information that circulated in previous weeks also reported on the arrest of the lawyers. Isabel Cristina Acevedo Solís and Maricarmen Espinoza Segurawho were known to have been sentenced to 12 and 10 years in prison, respectively.
