At five in the morning this Saturday, November 5, 2022, the National Police illegally arrested the opposition Karla Vega, originally from El Rosario, department of Carazo. As reported by her family on social networks, the riot police entered her home with violence and beat her.
“They kicked the door for us and entered with hatred. They mounted her (to the truck). They were about ten riot police. Her physical integrity and her life are in danger because since they took her out of her house they have been beating her, “said a relative of Vega.
He indicated that the officers did not present them with any arrest warrant. In the house there were only women and girls.
“They took her out by force and she was in her nightgown, in pajamas, disheveled, almost asleep and about ten riot police, more or less, forced her onto the patrol car,” said the relative.
Riot police besieged her since Friday
Family members commented to CONFIDENTIALthat Vega used to sit on a cement bench, located outside her house, and that last Friday she was there, along with some friends, when a patrol came to harass her.
“The patrol came and parked outside the house. She got in and at eight at night we were already locked up. The neighbors told us that they were out of the house all night, about 15 riot police with three patrols surrounding the house,” said a relative.
It was until dawn this Saturday that the operation to stop her began. First they kicked the main gate of the house and then they entered with violence and threats. “We got really scared and knew right away it was them. And when they saw the door to the closed room, they threatened: ‘if you don’t open the door, we’ll shoot them twice,’ which was agreed to,” they explain.
Karla Vega, kidnapped today November 5 by the political police of the Sandinista dictatorship in El Rosario Carazo. They violently removed her and damaged her property. Only women and children were in the house. No more injustices of the regime.#SOSNicaragua @IACHR @OHCHR https://t.co/JPav3jTVuJ pic.twitter.com/rwt8adIDZi
— Self-Convened National Movement (@MNAutoconvocado) November 5, 2022
The riot police entered the opponent’s room directly. A daughter of Vega asked the officers why they were taking her from her and one of the policemen slapped her on the arm and yelled at her: “get off, you son of a bitch.”
Vega’s family learned that she is detained in the departmental delegation of Jinotepe, Carazo and that she is in the process of being investigated. They demand her immediate release.
Siege dates from 2018
Vega “is an opponent, but not a criminal,” according to the relative. The citizen has been besieged since July 2018, when the cleaning operation took place in Carazo. As a result of the harassment, one of her children went into exile.
“The last strong siege occurred on Holy Thursday this year (2022); They came with patrols and canines. That day they warned her that ‘everything that happened in El Rosario was going to be her fault and that they would come for her. Since then, civil police officers have been around the house in cars, vans and motorcycles,” explained a relative.
He stressed that, a month ago, they sent a message to Vega that said “let’s go with everything.” Faced with this situation, she decided not to speak more about the political situation in the country, to avoid further reprisals.
Karla is 43 years old, suffers from hypertension and vascular thrombosis in her right leg. She does not have minor children, but she takes care of her mother, who is an elderly person.
Other arrests prior to voting
The arrest of opponents, in an electoral context, is an old practice of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. Before and after “election farce” of November In 2021 several Nicaraguans were arrested, including Evelyn Pinto, Nidia Barbosa, Harry Chávez, Donald Alvarenga and Muammar Vado. They were all illegally prosecuted for allegedly “conspiracy” and “cybercrime”.
In mid-2021, six presidential candidates were arrested. Among these: Félix Maradiaga, Cristiana Chamorro, Miguel Mora, Arturo Cruz, Medardo Mairena, Juan Sebastián Chamorro. As well as opposition leaders, journalists and businessmen.
Prior to these municipal votes, which will take place this Sunday, November 6, the regime arrested two members of the Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN), Mildred Rayo and Miguel Flores. These were detained by the Nicaraguan Army.
According to a statement from AUN, at the time of the arrest the youths were circulating near the Sapoá river, in the municipality of Cárdenas, department of Rivas, bordering Costa Rica, and were heading towards Managua.
Since June, the regime has intensified the arrests of citizens and opponents. According to a monitoring CONFIDENTIALUntil mid-October, the regime added 26 political prisoners. Among these five members or former members of the opposition Democratic Renovating Union (Unimos, formerly MRS), Monsignor Rolando Alvarezbishop of Matagalpa and administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, five priests, five relatives of politically persecutedtwo workers from the newspaper La Prensa and the former general manager of the now-defunct El Nuevo Diario.
Since 2018, the regime has accumulated more than 200 people imprisoned for political reasons in Nicaragua. Among them there are citizens who were released by amnesty and later re-arrested. Among them: Miguel Mora, Yubrank Suazo, among others.
