The Nicaraguan Never Again Human Rights Collective and the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) rejected the guilty plea against former employees of the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCH). The organizations consider that the “judicial process (was) arbitrary and unconstitutional.”
The dictatorship sentenced Cristiana Chamorro to eight years in prison and her brother Pedro Joaquín Chamorro to nine years. Walter Gómez and Marco Fletes were sentenced to 14 years and Pedro Vásquez to seven years in prison for the alleged crimes of money laundering, goods and assets, ideological falsehood, appropriation and improper retention. In addition, they denounce that these convictions are “the product of a farce.”
Related news: Dictatorship sentences Cristiana Chamorro, the candidate who would defeat Ortega, to eight in prison
“Cristiana, Walter and Marco were unjustly convicted of alleged money laundering, abusive management, ideological falsehood, withholding and appropriation, they were sentenced to pay fines of three times what was supposedly indicated for money laundering,” laments the Human Rights Defender Collective.
“The convictions, the product of a farce. We demand the cessation of these convictions and null trials that occur because the country is facing a dictatorship that violates the human rights of the population that thinks differently. We demand the freedom of Cristiana, Walter, Marco, Pedro Joaquín, Pedro Vásquez and all political prisoners in Nicaragua,” adds the group.
For its part, the Cenidh demands the immediate release of the former FVBCH officials, assuring that the fines imposed on the accused are “impossible to pay and if they were to be commuted they would be equivalent to life imprisonment.” During the trial, which according to defense attorneys was plagued by irregularities and nullitiesparaded a series of witnesses, mostly policemen and some journalists from official media.
Related news: “An aberration” is how the IAPA describes the conviction of the Chamorros in Nicaragua
The judicial process began on March 3 and ended on Friday the 11th, it was held at the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, in Managua, known as “El Nuevo Chipote”, where more than 30 hostages of conscience are also held captive.
Chamorro was the opposition figure most likely to win the presidential elections of November 7, in which Ortega prevailed with his rules for his fifth term, fourth consecutive and second together with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, with his main contenders in prison.
