The dictatorship sentenced the presidential candidate to eight years in prison Christiana Chamorro Barrios for the alleged crimes of money laundering, ideological falsehood, appropriation and improper retention.
These crimes would have been committed through the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCH), an organization of which she was president. Cristiana was sentenced with her brother Pedro Joaquinyour driver, Peter Vasquez;, and the administrator and financier Walter Gomez and Freight Frameworkformer employees of the closed Foundation.
Related note: «Let them be released! They have not committed any crime”, the campaign in support of Ortega’s political prisoners
The political trial began against the general manager of the newspaper La Prensa, John Lawrence Holmanaccused of alleged money laundering. The hearing was held inside the Police Complex known as “El Nuevo Chipote”, where he has been imprisoned since August 2021 since the regime directly attacked the newspaper and took over its facilities.
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) described the process as a “judicial farce” and stressed that the 55-year-old political prisoner has an “alarming deterioration in his health.” He “has lost 24 pounds, has a bulge in his abdomen, pain in his groin, fungus on his hands and feet, heart problems, blood pressure, and apparent prostate problems.”
The relatives of the political prisoners of “El Nuevo Chipote” were able to see them for the sixth time between March 17 and 19. During the visit, they verified that their fundamental rights continue to be violated; In addition, if they are subjected to arbitrary judicial processes, they remain imprisoned in completely inhuman conditions.
sociologist and economist Irving Larios showed symptoms associated with COVID-19 since March 8. The situation of the political prisoner was not informed to his relatives and the 63-year-old opponent had to remain in poor health and without medical attention for up to six days. Larios’s relatives demand that he be granted house arrest, due to the different effects on his health.
This day, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) announced that the opposition Lazaro Ernesto Rivas Perezarrested in 2020 in Chontales, was the beneficiary of precautionary measures for being in a serious and urgent situation of risk of irreparable damage to his rights.
Related note: They ask that political prisoner Irving Larios be granted house arrest
The Blue and White National Unity (A B) carried out this day the installation of its new Political Council for the period 2022-2023. The 10 elected members are part of the different organizations that make up the opposition bloc. In turn, the UNAB decided to leave the names of the four political prisoners who made up the Council before their arbitrary arrest: Tamara Dávila, Róger Reyes, Álex Hernández and José Antonio Pera.
The new Political Council will work to exert national and international pressure, accompany citizens in actions against the regime and keep the voices of the victims alive, among other purposes.
