Just six months after the re-election of President Daniel Ortega, the situation of press freedom in Nicaragua shows no signs of improvement, leaving behind hope that the pressures on dissidents – politicians, activists and journalism – have eased after the electoral tensions. toned.
This week, different organizations warned of the escalating persecution of independent newspapers and the risks posed to imprisoned journalists since last year.
And in an unusual case, two drivers of La Prensa, one of the country’s main newspapers, were arrested in connection with a story about Catholic nuns being exiled from Nicaragua.
‘Nightmare’ for journalism in Nicaragua
Nicaragua is ranked 160th in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom rankings, which ranks 18th countries.
In its analysis of the country, RSF notes that even after Ortega’s fourth consecutive re-election in November, journalism “continued to face a nightmare of censorship, intimidation and threats,” and that journalists were subjected to harassment, arbitrariness, arrest and death. threats, so many went into exile.
A report released this week by the Voces del Sur project, which brings together non-governmental organizations in Latin America, highlighted the gravity of the situation facing the country’s media in June.
“Serious violations were recorded during this period, including the removal of Catholic channels from cable TV in the country, and the persecution of a journalist from private broadcaster Canal 10 who was prevented from recording footage of the traffic accident,” the document says.
But the most important caveat was the deliberate censorship that traditional media outlets were suffering.
The organization pointed out that, without revealing the identity of the companies, the Nicaraguan government has made direct threats to permanently shut down three of the country’s main vehicles.
According to Voces del Sur, this forces the two to stop covering political issues, while the third “slowly” stops reporting on political issues.
“Journalism has a historical responsibility, particularly in the context of upcoming municipal elections, to continue to report on the already dozens of arbitrary politics,” the organization underlines.
The report also condemned that the two journalists were prevented from leaving the country by order of the Ortega government.
At the same time, journalist Tifani Roberts was banned from entering Nicaragua to visit her family.
“We regret the increase in forced deportations and demand that the State protect the integrity of those who remain in the country through courageous, ethical and humanitarian journalism,” the document said.
#Nicaragua | The document states, “We regret the increase in forced deportations and demand that the State preserve the integrity of what it can sustain in the country through valiant, ethical and humane journalism.”
➡️ https://t.co/zhE7HyHKNU— Voces del Sur (@VDSorg) 11 July 2022
Voces del Sur’s report on the state of journalism was published following the arrest of two employees of Nicaragua’s oldest newspaper, La Prensa.
The men, whose identities were not disclosed at the request of their family members, are the driver of the vehicle, not the journalist.
The detained defendants were sentenced to 90 days in prison as authorities investigated their involvement in a newspaper article that angered the government.
The report concerned the forcing of 18 nuns from the Charity Missionaries Association, founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, to leave the country in police custody and cross the Costa Rican border on foot.
The plight of deported religious women is the latest in Nicaragua following the crackdown on human rights defenders. Ortega has shut down more than 900 NGOs in the country since protests demanding his resignation in 2018.
And on Sunday (10), he ordered another 100 nonprofits to close.
Also Read | Newspaper drivers arrested for reporting on deported nuns in Nicaragua
Journalists ‘Prisoners of Conscience’ in Nicaragua
The persecution of La Prensa is not new. In August 2021, Broadcasting building raided by the police and its director Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro was imprisoned.
In addition to him, two other members of the newspaper’s board, Cristiana and Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios, are also in prison.
The driver’s case was classified by the Inter-American Press Association (SIP, its Spanish acronym) as a “new wave of persecution” by the paper’s Nicaraguan government.
“We hold the Ortega regime accountable for what may happen to each and every one of La Prensa’s workers, victims of abuse, intolerance and disrespect for their fundamental rights,” said IAPA president Jorge Canahuati.
On Wednesday the 13th, the agency issued a warning note that the health of several of the inmates was deteriorating.
The organization called for the immediate release of all “convicts of thought” convicted of “wrongful and improper crimes in summary trials”:
“The IAPA reiterates its request to the international community to close the cases of the last three members of the newspaper La Prensa, Miguel Mora, Miguel Mendoza, Jaime Arellano, Cristiana Chamorro, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro and Juan Lorenzo Holmann. [problemas de] are people whose rights have been violated in international standards regarding the treatment of detainees and human rights.”
The IAPA also urged regional and international press associations and multilateral organizations to “hold the Nicaraguan cause on the public agenda in order to demand freedom and solidarity with Nicaraguan journalists and their families.”
Also Read | Nicaragua: International manifesto calls for an end to censorship and press persecution under Ortega
Celebrities journalists arrested in Nicaragua
The association detailed the forensic and medical conditions of six journalists, all of whom are well-known names in Nicaraguan journalism.
Miguel Mora, 56, founder of the TV channel 100% Notícias, was sentenced to 13 years in prison.
He has been detained in the Directorate of Legal Aid (DAJ), known as the “new Chipote” (referring to the prison used in the military dictatorship), where torture, harassment, degrading treatment and other human rights violations have been committed since June 2021. condemned.
According to the IAPA, she has since lost more than 13 pounds. Mora has no right to communicate with her son or own the Bible. He was accused of violating national unity.
Miguel Mendoza, 51, was arrested in June 2021 and sentenced to 9 years in prison last February. A sports reporter also spoke about politics and criticized the Ortega government on social media.
The IAPA reported that he shared a cell with moldy walls and no windows in “brutal conditions” with fellow journalist Juan Lorenzo Holmann. The entity says the light is on 24 hours a day and the two of them can only go out into the courtyard once a week.
Political commentator Jaime Arellano, 61, has served 13 years under house arrest since June 2021.
He was accused of conspiring to undermine national sovereignty and spread fake news through information and communication technology. According to the IAPA, the journalist suffers from obesity, circulation problems and high blood pressure.
Also Read | According to the report, freedom of expression is falling by 80% in the world and in Brazil in ten years
A member of a dynasty of Nicaraguan journalists, 67-year-old Cristiana Chamorro Barrios was vice president of the newspaper La Prensa and was once a presidential candidate. His father, Pedro Joaquim Chamorro, founded the Cardenal newspaper and was murdered in 1978.
She also founded a human rights NGO in memory of her mother, Violeta, who presided over the country in 1990. He was arrested in June 2021 and sentenced to 8 years of house arrest, a punishment he imposed in solitary confinement and absolute restraint. According to SIP.
He was charged with mismanagement, misrepresentation, abuse and detention, and money laundering.
The same accusation applied to the 70-year-old journalist Pedro Joaquín Chamorro. Sentenced to 9 years in prison, he remained in prison until last May. Due to his deteriorating health, he was placed under house arrest.
The IAPA claims that Chamorro has lost more than 30 pounds and has hearing problems.
Another famous journalist from La Prensa, who was imprisoned by the Daniel Ortega regime in Nicaragua, is Juan Lorenzo Holmann, 55.
The newspaper editor was sentenced to nine years in prison after a secret trial since August 2021 and without the right to meet with a lawyer.
The IAPA reported that Holmann suffered from high blood pressure, had vision problems, and had heart surgery in the last year and was not followed up regularly due to his arrest. He was charged with money laundering and misappropriation of assets.
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source: Noticias
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