Like the rest of the opponents tried in Nicaragua in recent weeks, the general manager of the newspaper La Prensa, John Lawrence Holman He was found guilty this Wednesday of the charge of money laundering that the justice controlled by President Daniel Ortega has imputed to him.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, which has requested nine years and four months in prison for the director of the oldest newspaper in Nicaragua, Holmann allegedly carried out money laundering through the last printed newspaper that was left standing in Managua and which he directed for less than three years.
The evidence presented by the Prosecutor’s Office consisted of statements by police officers who carried out the raid on the offices of the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation, also accused of alleged money laundering.
The Managua judge, Nadia Camila Tardencilla, who was leading the process against Lorenzo, issued the guilty verdict, reported the newspaper La Prensa.
Juan Lorenzo was arrested in August 2021 after the government raided the newspaper La Prensa and took over the de facto building. Since then, the businessman has remained in prison in the cells known as El Chipote, in Managua.
“I am proud to belong to the family I have, in which my parents raised me with moral and Christian values. Here what they have said are lies and falsehoods about me,” Lorenzo said upon hearing the sentence, according to La Prensa, Chystal Munguía, wife of the businessman.
Holmann’s family has denounced the inhumane conditions in which he finds himself since his arrest in August last year.
Uncertain future for the newspaper
But the ruling against Holmann will not only affect him personally because he will spend more time in prison, but also for the future of the newspaper, which for now is only digital.
A journalist from the Politics area of La Prensa told the VOA under the anonymity that the foreseeable judicial ruling again creates uncertainty among the collaborators.
“After the raid on the newspaper, the type of contract was changed for several journalists, and today, they are for professional services because legally La Prensa does not exist,” he said.
“What they said before the guilty plea was that they had hope that the situation might improve and that this change was temporary, but as expected, the opposite happened. Now I believe that the challenge is extremely great, and in reality will depend on Holmann’s family and the actions they are going to take to keep him at La Prensa. That could include another cut in staff, or finding a way to keep the few journalists (reporters and editors), photographers, and some drivers,” he added.
Nicaragua is experiencing one of its worst political crises in the last 30 years. Since his return to power in 2007, the government of Daniel Ortega has closed several media outlets such as Confidential, 100% News, among others, but has also unleashed a persecution against journalists, businessmen and opponents.
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