Relatives of political prisoners together with the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy began a campaign on Monday called “Christmas without political prisoners or prisoners”, to demand “the definitive and guaranteed freedom” of more than 160 prisoners of conscience locked up by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo
The campaign, which they carry out for the fourth consecutive year, will be carried out on this occasion virtually before the police state imposed by the Ortega-Murillo regime that has imprisoned at least 27 opponents so far this month of November.
In a press conference they invited the Nicaraguan population, human rights organizations and the international community to join in the cry for the freedom of those unjustly imprisoned.
“We are a nation that deserves peace, social development, decent jobs, good health services, quality education, and quality of life for our families and fellow citizens,” they explained.
For the freedom of Lesther Alemán Alfaro, so that this Christmas he can share in the bosom of his home and that he can hug his mother again. Lesther, Christmas awaits you as a family.
Nicaragua hugs you this Christmas.#HopeandFreedom #ChristmasWithoutPolitics pic.twitter.com/qrDeGV4Lc1– Civic Alliance Nicaragua (@AlianzaCivicaNi) November 29, 2021
No to dialogue without conditions
Fernanda Guevara, wife of the lawyer of the presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga, Róger Reyes, who has been in prison since August, demanded freedom for all political prisoners because it is “terrible” to spend these Christmas holidays separate.
“I demand that my little daughters can have their dad for this Christmas. My four and twelve year old daughters deserve to be with him (…) it is cruel that our children cannot see their parents in these important times, that every day they ask me about their father and I have to tell them that he is working in a very far place ”, claimed Guevara.
Lesbia Alfaro, mother of the student Lesther Alemán, affirmed that there can be no negotiation or dialogue while the political prisoners continue in the prisons of Nicaragua and without the restitution of their civil and political rights.
In this regard, Yubrank Suazo, a member of the Civic Alliance, insisted that for “the true opposition” to participate in a national dialogue, several prerequisites must be met “strictly” that provide guarantees of compliance.
“If (the Ortega-Murillo regime) intends to convene a national dialogue, the real opposition could sit (at the dialogue table) only if there are certain requirements that go through the unconditional release of all political prisoners, the restoration of rights civilians, respect for human rights and the withdrawal of the Police from the streets to put an end to the police state ”, he stated.
“It’s a hell”
“Not only do we raise our voices but we shout for those cells to be opened and political prisoners to come out this Christmas because they are innocent people,” insisted the lawyer and professor, María Asunción Moreno.
Victoria Cárdenas, wife of Juan Sebastián Chamorro, warned that every day that her relatives remain in the different cells of the country “their physical and emotional integrity and even their lives are in danger.”
For this reason, he stressed, a “definitive” liberation without risk of recapture is important so that “the hell we are living through is over.”
MEPs demand more pressure from the regime
Members of the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament warned, during an extraordinary session held this Monday, that they will request more diplomatic and economic pressure for the Ortega-Murillo regime, who were re-elected in elections that the European Union (EU) considers “a farce ”And therefore they should not be recognized as elected authorities.
The Spanish MEP, Leopoldo López Gil, was the first to emphasize that the voting on November 7 was “a sham, a mockery” for the Nicaraguan people and the international community. That is why the crisis in Nicaragua is included on the agenda of the next session of the European Parliament.
“We will propose, once again, that a resolution be approved to condemn what happened in the elections and to ensure that the European Parliament does not recognize the authorities emanating from them. There we must also request very specific actions and request additional sanctions (…) for all those participants in the violations of the human rights of Nicaraguans, including Mr. Ortega, ”López Gil stressed.
The meeting was attended by: César Dubois, husband of political prisoner Suyén Barahona; Olga Valle, from Urnas Abiertas; Haydee Castillo, from Nicaraguans in the World (NEM); and Hermann Tertsch, Leopoldo López Gil, Ignacio Sánchez Amor and Soraya Rodríguez MEPs.
For MEP Rodríguez, the situation in Nicaragua is “truly terrible” and “the denunciation of the OAS Charter adds many elements of greater concern to be able to denounce the situation of human rights violations in this country”. That is why “we will ask for this resolution in the next (session of) Parliament that we insist on breaking the impunity of the dictatorship,” he added.
The MEP Tertsch also mentioned that the drift that is being experienced in Nicaragua has only one way of stopping and “it is through energetic measures by the international community, as has not been done in Nicaragua, Venezuela and other countries.”
“We need the sanctions mechanisms that we have created to be applied forcefully, quickly and with solvency, so that this tyrant in Nicaragua knows that he cannot continue to act like this and that his actions have a very high price,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Dubois told MEPs how his wife was detained and the situation facing the relatives of prisoners of conscience. “Until a few days ago, my son often asked me where is Mom? Why doesn’t he come back to us? It has been very difficult to explain to a four-year-old boy that his mother wants him to grow up in a democracy, with justice and freedom, that she, like more than 160 people, are political prisoners, ”he said.
