After the repressive escalation by the Nicaraguan regime, 20 organizations that make up the Nicaragua Fight Coalition condemned these actions that have led to more arrests of opponents, religious, human rights defenders and journalists.
Regarding the exercise of journalism and freedom of expression in the country, the organizations affirm that there is multiple evidence that the profession of journalism and communication have been threatened, harassed, and prosecuted in court in recent years.
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They recalled that the Ortega dictatorship has closed most of the media, usurping their facilities, prosecuting their workers; declaring 23 journalists stateless and depriving them of their assets and bank accounts.
They also indicated that Ortega’s authoritarian drift has caused the forced exile of more than 200 journalists and communicators, “implementing laws contrary to universal standards on freedom of opinion and thought, demonstrating the absolute control they have over the powers of the State.”
“An example of this is the Cybercrime Law (Gag Law) that penalizes constitutional rights and is used to persecute activists, opponents and any citizen who has a critical look at the current government,” they stressed.
Regarding the attack against the freedom of the independent press, the Coalition Nicaragua Lucha pointed out the recent prosecution of the journalist Víctor Ticay, accused of false news and conspiracy, the same accusations that the Nicaraguan Prosecutor’s Office has made against several people persecuted politically.
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They also denounced the impact of persecution on economic precariousness and “psychological and social effects for those who carry out the profession of journalism and communication in the country, with a report that almost 40% of independent journalists have abandoned the profession.”
On the other hand, civil society organizations denounced the continuing lack of transparency in processes and data of public interest in Nicaragua, reminding the Ortega and Murillo regime of its obligation to comply with the laws.
«Access to information, being a right that includes the freedom to seek, receive and disseminate information and ideas, is a key instrument for the exercise of other rights such as economic, social and cultural rights (ESCER) in a democratic society », they concluded.
