Nicaragua: 10 years in prison for the family of an opponent of Ortega

The judicial authorities of Nicaragua They sentenced on Thursday to eight and 10 years in prison three relatives of the exiled opponent Javier Alvarezin the first sentence handed down in the country against relatives of a politically persecuted person.

Álvarez, a 69-year-old economist critical of the government of Daniel Ortegatold the AP that his wife Jeannine Horvilleur63 years old, and their daughter, Ana Carolina Alvarez Horvilleur43, were sentenced to 8 years in prison, while their son-in-law Felix Roiz received a sentence of 10 years in jail.

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The crimes charged wereconspiracy to undermine national integrity” Y “spread of fake news”.

This is the first conviction against relatives of a politically persecuted person, a strategy that, according to human rights defenders, began to be applied by the government of Daniel Ortega the day the Álvarez family was arrested.

The three were arrested on September 13 in Managua, when the police showed up at the family’s home to capture the Javier Alvareza low-profile opponent, who had already escaped to Costa Rica.

The two women have dual French and Nicaraguan nationality, but that condition did not serve to reverse the criminal proceedings against them.

Álvarez said that the judge Felix Salmeron admitted the sentences requested by the Prosecutor’s Office, despite the fact that his relatives “were not involved in any political activity”.

According to those close to the Álvarez family, the French embassy in Managua tried unsuccessfully to arrange for the release of the two Franco-Nicaraguan citizens from the day of their arrest.

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Javier Álvarez reiterated that his relatives “they are innocent” and that they were arrested and sentenced “to get back at me” for not being able to stop him.

The three are imprisoned in the El Chipote police jail, where dozens of opposition leaders arrested since May 2021 remain, as part of the more than 230 “political prisoners” reported by the opposition.

The Ortega government has intensified the persecution of its political adversaries, and it seems that it is no longer satisfied with taking them into exile, but is now accusing their relatives through criminal proceedings.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh) has described these cases as “a new pattern of kidnapping for extortion” used by the government, since “take hostage” to their relatives to force the capture or surrender of exiled opponents.

After learning of the sentence, the body ruled in rejection on Twitter: “We repudiate these actions of the regime and the Judiciary. From CENIDH we demand that they be released immediately, THEY ARE INNOCENT”.

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Judge Salmerón also sentenced the former candidates for the presidency Arturo Cruz, Felix Maradiaga Y Juan Sebastian Chamorroto peasant leaders Medardo Mairena Y Pedro Menabusinessman Jose Adam Aguerriand opposition political leaders Violet Barn, joseph pallais Y Tamara Davilaamong others.

Nicaragua has been experiencing a serious political crisis since the social uprising of 2018, when the repression by the police and government paramilitaries against civilian protesters left 355 dead, more than 2,000 injured, 1,600 detained at different times and at least 100,000 exiled, according to rights organizations humans.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.