The now former warden of the National Penitentiary System (SPN), Darling Iván Morales Duarte, remembered for being one of the “tough” jailers of the regime and accused of having been a ruthless torturer of political and common prisoners, in the prisons he directed, was fired recently and now he begs the public to recommend him as a lawyer.
“Friends friends. Happy Saturday. Your server offers its services as Lawyer and Notary. I thank you in advance for recommending me to your family, friends, acquaintances and other people who need my modest services. God is my strength and my guide in my new field of work. I trust that it will give me wisdom and integrity. Blessings », says the former prison guard, in an announcement published on his personal Facebook account, posted on March 4 of this year.
Morales Duarte, for several years was director of different penitentiary centers in Nicaragua, and wherever he arrived he sowed terror among the prison population, before 2018, and that fame of “tough and ruthless” led him to become, that year, one of the first directors of the feared gallery known as “La 300”, the torture room for dozens of political prisoners opposed to the dictatorship.
run without pain or glory
A source who spoke to Article 66 on condition of anonymity, who knows the now-ex-prisoner well because he worked with him in one of the prisons, reported that Morales Duarte was not “retired” from the SPN for years of service, but was “discharged” as a result of a sanction , because in November of last year, 3 inmates escaped from the Waswalí prison, in Matagalpa, where he had been the director for more than two years.
In that prison, under the command of Morales Duarte, there were 17 political prisoners, according to the January report of the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners.
Related news: They denounce the “isolation and constant torture” suffered by the political prisoners of Waswalí
All these prisoners of conscience were under a differentiated prison regime. Morales Duarte was in charge that they did not receive normal visits, that they were constantly searched, restricting their hours of sunlight, isolating them in punishment cells and keeping them in silence, according to several complaints made by relatives at the time. The 17 political prisoners were released and exiled to the United States on February 9 of this year, as part of the 222 political prisoners expelled from Nicaragua by the dictatorship.
Likewise, in February 2022, Morales Duarte was denounced by relatives of the prisoner Manuel Urbina Lara for having threatened to “disappear” the prisoner if they continued to demand his freedom. “They will not see him again,” the then warden told the relatives.
After the escape of the three prisoners from Waswalí, the warden was temporarily suspended, but at the end of last February they notified him that he was “corrected”. “He left without pain or glory and in silence,” says the source.
Two common prisoners killed under his administration
Former warden Morales Duartes was known in the SPN as a “riot appeaser.” In 2012, the inmates of the Granada prison rioted to demand better prison conditions and Morales was sent there. In less than 3 hours he quelled the protest with tear gas, rubber bullets and clubs. At least 10 inmates were injured.
In January 2014, the inmates of the Cuisalá prison, in Juigalpa, Chontales, also started a week-long protest demanding an end to the mistreatment. Warden Morales arrived there and in one day, with anti-riot forces from the SPN, he put down the riot. More than 30 inmates were seriously injured.
Related news: Jailers threaten to “disappear” political prisoners in Waswalí
There, in Juigalpa, he organized a group of violent guards, which he used to torture: César Tablada, Alexander López, Pablo Rodríguez, Bayardo Sequeira, Ignacio Mátuz, Alexander Picado, Jorge Jarquín, Lesther Mejía and Lesther Sequeira. This group, under the command of Morales, was accused of beating to death two common criminals in Juigalpa. Carlos Alberto Cohan, 73, in 2014, and Donald Jiménez Jiménez, 46, in 2016.
Those guards were Morales Duarte’s favorites and when he had to go to La 300, already with political prisoners from 2018 in that gallery, he took them all, so that they could apply their torture methods to the protesters imprisoned by the dictatorship.
César tablada and Ignacio Mátuz, recommended by Morales, rose quickly and were promoted in positions as rewards for their violent methods of torturing political prisoners. Tablada became Sub-Alcaide and Deputy Director of Prison, while Ignacio Mátuz reached the rank of First Bailiff. Both were also recently fired from the SPN and, like their former boss, are now seeking to practice as lawyers in Juigalpa.
Article 66 He contacted former jailer Darling Morales Duarte by phone to check with him on all the accusations made to him by our sources, but he limited himself to saying that he was entering a judicial hearing. “If he leaves me the information, or the question, what he wants to know and I’ll answer him later,” said the now lawyer.
We proceeded to list four specific questions and we sent them via WhatsApp to the same number, but hours passed and although the former executioner of the Ortega prisons read our messages, he no longer answered.
The obligatory questions have to do with the accusations of torture against political and common prisoners, their responsibility in the deaths of two common prisoners in the Juigalpa prison in 2014 and 2016, as well as the existence of a squad that operated under their command. to act with violence against the prisoners.
Minutes before the publication of this information, we asked Morales Duarte again if we would have his reactions, but, once again, he left the messages unchecked.
This medium will remain attentive in case you wish to respond to publish your version.
