In recent months, Daniel OrtegaтАЩs regime has carried out trials riddled with due process violations against several high-profile political prisoners. On March 3, 2022, former presidential contenders Juan Sebastian Chamorro, Cristiana Chamorro, and F├йlix Maradiaga were sentenced to 13 years in prison for the politically-motivated charge of conspiracy to тАЬundermine national integrity.тАЭ Opposition activists Violeta Granera and Tamara Davila received two eight year sentences, while former ambassador to the United States Arturo Cruz Sequeria was sentenced to nine years in prison.

тАЬThe international community must loudly reject that the true leaders of NicaraguaтАЩs civil society are being falsely convicted and sentenced to excessive prison time by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega,тАЭ said Javier El-Hage, chief legal officer of HRF. тАЬTheir wrongful imprisonments are based on false accusations and full of due process violations, which transparently show OrtegaтАЩs desire for extended dictatorial control of the country,тАЭ added El-Hage.

Most of the sentenced political prisoners were subjected to arbitrary detention and torture, among other forms of inhumane treatment and violations of due process. Shortly after the trials, the regime also proceeded to expel the papal nuncio Msgr. Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, who mediated talks between the regime and the opposition in 2018.

The regime of Daniel Ortega has steadily eroded democratic institutions since coming to power in 2007. After responding with wholesale violence to pro-democracy protests in 2018, countless protesters were imprisoned and a mass exodus took place. In the leadup to the November 2021 presidential election, Ortega imprisoned all main opposition candidates and more than 30 pro-democracy activists, guaranteeing this way that he would run and win the vote without meaningful opposition.

тАЬThe democratic world, especially in Latin America, cannot sit idly as OrtegaтАЩs tyrannical actions continue to destroy any opportunity for a return to democracy in Nicaragua. We must not tire in calling for all prisoners of conscience to be released and for Nicaraguans to once again be able to decide their future in a free and fair election,тАЭ added El-Hage.

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

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