The manager of the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro, fHe was sentenced this Thursday to nine years in prison, after being found guilty days ago of the alleged crime of money laundering, reported the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh).
The verdict against Holmann, detained for seven months, was issued by Judge Nadia Tardencilla, who was in charge of the case. In addition to the conviction, the court ordered a fine equivalent to “three times the money that she allegedly laundered,” the newspaper reported. The Press.
The Nicaraguan justice system is said to be controlled by the Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega, who returned to power in 2007 and has remained in office ever since.
the press it is one of the most critical newspapers of the government and one of the oldest with almost 100 years of existence. In fact, it was the last printed newspaper left standing in Managua, after the closure of other communication companies that were under economic and logistical pressure.
Since the process against Holmann was opened, the building has been taken over by the National Police, as has happened with other media such as 100%News and Confidential.
After Lorenzo’s arrest, the newspaper has remained only in its digital edition and the media outlet has made cuts in its staff, and those who remain remain anonymous in Managua, without signing the articles for security reasons.
In a previous interview with voice of americaa political reporter in the press He said on condition of anonymity that the foreseeable court ruling again creates uncertainty among the collaborators.
“After the raid on the newspaper, the type of contract was changed for several journalists, and today, they are for professional services because legally La Prensa does not exist,” he said.
Nicaragua is experiencing one of its worst political crises in the last 30 years, which began just in April 2018.
In 2021, the president directed the arrest of some 50 people, including seven presidential candidates, leaving him without legitimate competition, experts told the newspaper. VOA.
The trials against the opponents began two months ago and the United States, as well as other democratic countries, have branded them as “a mockery of due process.”
Human rights organizations point out that “in Nicaragua there is a brutal dictatorship that systematically represses the population,” and that it intensified as a result of these protests.
Ortega, for his part, rejects the accusations of the international community and has repeatedly accused the existence of political prisoners.
“Human rights are constantly abused and anyone who dares to exercise freedom of expression, freedom of association, dissent, to criticize the presidential couple of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, is persecuted and some people have been unfairly sentenced” , indicated to the VOAJuan Pappier, senior researcher in the Americas division of Human Rights Watch.
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