In Nicaragua, since September 12, the reforms and additions to the Special Law on Cybercrimes came into effect, ordered by dictator Daniel Ortega to increase penalties for several crimes, in addition to criminalizing the use of social networks and cell phone applications and adding prison sentences of up to 20 years for anyone the dictatorship wants to accuse of “promoting, sponsoring and encouraging the commission of complex crimes” in the reformed Law.
Among the most visible changes made to the Cybercrime Law is the reform of article 8, referring to “Interference with the computer system or data.” It establishes that “anyone who intentionally and by any means interferes with or alters the operation of a computer system or the data contained therein, temporarily or permanently, will be punished with imprisonment of four to seven years and a fine of three hundred to six hundred days.” Before the changes, the prison sentence was three to five years and fines of 200 to 400 days.
Related news: Reform to the Cybercrime Law comes into force: Use of social networks is criminalized and prison sentences are increased
The dictatorship also reformed the penalty for anyone who damages the State’s computer systems, “or those intended for the provision of health, communications, financial, energy, water supply, transportation, ports and airports, citizen security, social security system, education in any of its subsystems, public order and national defense or other services to the public.” In this case, the new prison sentence will be from seven to fifteen years and six hundred to one thousand days of fine. Previously, the prison sentence in this case was from four to six years.
In the reforms to the Cybercrime Law, the dictatorship included Article 30, which refers to what the regime calls “propagation and dissemination of false or distorted news.”
Said article of the repressive Law 1042 establishes that “whoever, using Information and Communication Technologies, social networks or mobile applications, publishes or disseminates false, distorted or any other information that deliberately produces alarm, fear, panic or anxiety in the population, or in a group or sector of it, in a person or his family, will be imposed a penalty of three to five years in prison and three hundred to five hundred days of fine. Previously, this penalty was two to four years in prison and three hundred to five hundred days of fine.
The Ortega-Murillo dictatorship He released 1,600 common prisoners on the occasion of the patriotic month, while he keeps dozens of opponents imprisoned and tortured and forcibly exiled another group whose movable and immovable property he also denationalized.
“All these people are receiving a new opportunity to live righteously and, in coexistence with their families in their homes, we can appreciate this other moment in their lives. We must rectify errors and continue walking as we should walk with a conscience of humanity. We can make mistakes, and we must entrust ourselves to them,” he said. Rosario Murilloto official media.
The prisoners, including 1,491 men and 109 women, were granted the “family cohabitation regime,” a legal modality that allows inmates with minor sentences and good behavior to finish serving their sentences at home.
The Miss Universe Nicaragua organization today presented Geyssell García, originally from Santo Tomás, Chontales, as the new representative of Nicaraguan beauty and who will represent the country at Miss Universe 2024, to be held in Mexico on November 16.
Related news: Geyssell García is the new Miss Nicaragua 2024 and will travel to Mexico to seek the Miss Universe crown
The new MUN franchise decided to appoint its candidate due to time constraints, after the previous Miss Nicaragua administration suffered a direct attack from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, which prohibited the entry of the director of said organization, Karen Celebertti.
Celebertti has directed the most important beauty pageant in Nicaragua since 2001, and it was after Sheynnis Palacios’ victory as Miss Universe 2023 that the government decided to attack the franchise, also ordering the expulsion of Celebertti’s family.
