The European Union on Tuesday extended sanctions against 21 senior Nicaraguan officials for another year, including Rosario Murillo, vice president and wife of President Daniel Ortega, as well as three of her children.
The sanctions prohibit the authorities of the Central American country from traveling through EU countries and the assets they have in European banks are frozen, the bloc reported in a statement.
Three Nicaraguan entities are also sanctioned: the National Police, the Supreme Electoral Council and the Nicaraguan Institute of Telecommunications and Postal Services, which means that EU citizens and companies cannot finance them.
Murillo, who is also a government spokesman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The European bloc sanctioned the Ortega government for the first time in 2019, condemning alleged human rights violations committed by authorities in a crackdown on anti-government protesters the previous year.
The riots left more than 300 dead, according to human rights groups.
The EU on Tuesday urged Ortega’s government to release political prisoners and restore some freedoms, such as the right to dissent. Civil society groups claim that there are currently around 70 political prisoners detained in the country.
In September, the government released more than 100 prisoners and expelled them from the country. Ortega has previously referred to political prisoners as “mercenaries” seeking to overthrow him.
Since 2018, Ortega’s government has intensified repression against its domestic political opponents, detaining and imprisoning critics on charges including conspiracy and treason and stripping many of their citizenship.
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