The peasant leaders Medardo Mairena, Freddy Navas and Pedro Mena together with the student leaders Lesther Alemán and Max Jerez celebrate this Monday, December 5, 17 months of being captive in the cells of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
Mairena, Navas, Mena, Alemán and Jerez remain detained at the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), known as “El Chipote”, an investigation center where they are subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, according to complaints from their relatives and organizations. national and international human rights.
The five political prisoners were arrested on July 5, 2021, a few months before the November presidential elections, in a day of hunting for opponents that included seven presidential candidates who would try to wrest the Presidency from the dictator Daniel Ortega from the polls.
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Campesino and student leaders faced political trials for “treason against the homeland.” Mairena was sentenced to 13 years in jail, Navas and Mena, 10 in prison each. Max Jerez and Lesther Alemán were each sentenced to 13 years behind bars.
The peasant leaders were violently detained in Managua and it is the second time they have been imprisoned by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. In 2018, they were accused of alleged terrorism and Mairena was sentenced to 206 years in prison. On this occasion they were accused of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity.”
The five political prisoners They were presented between August 31, September 1 and 2 of this year. The regime exhibited them to its propaganda media and it was the first time, in more than a year of captivity, that they were seen by the Nicaraguan citizens. All political prisoners present weight loss, are aged and have serious health problems that are not attended to.
The relatives of the prisoners of conscience and the Peasant Movement denounced that the three have lost weight and continue to be subjected to constant interrogations, poor nutrition and psychological abuse. The leaders have been a critical voice against the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship in the face of the siege and violations of rights suffered by peasants in the country.
