Opposition leader Cristiana Chamorro sentenced to eight years in prison in Nicaragua

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Journalist and former Nicaraguan presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro was sentenced to eight years in prison by a court Monday after being found guilty of crimes Daniel Ortega’s government accused of her.

The 68-year-old Cristiana will remain under house arrest, where she has been since June, said the independent Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), which monitors trials of imprisoned opposition figures.

Her conviction was for crimes including money laundering and embezzlement. Authorities have not provided details of the convictions.

According to the prosecution, the crimes were committed through the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation (FVBCH), a nongovernmental organization named after the former president of Nicaragua (1990-1997) and mother of Cristiana, dedicated to promoting freedom of the press and expression.

“I am committed to continuing my family’s legacy,” she told the judge. She is the daughter of journalist and editor of La Prensa newspaper, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, who was murdered in 1978.

This Monday, he was sentenced to nine years in prison in the same case of the Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Foundation, Cristiana’s brother. Joaquín is being held in the prison of the Directorate of Legal Assistance (DAJ) of the Police, known as El Chipote.

Two employees of the FVBCH, which has not operated since last year, and Cristiana’s driver were also sentenced to prison terms of up to 13 years.

FINED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

Cristiana and the three officers were fined millions of dollars, which are “impossible to pay and if commuted would be equivalent to a life sentence,” according to Cenidh, who put the total fine at about US$3 million.

Cristiana had already denied the charges, claiming that the case against her was fabricated because she was trying to “serve the Nicaraguan people” as a presidential candidate in last November’s elections.

She was arrested on June 2, a few days after announcing her intention to register as a presidential candidate for the right-wing Citizens for Freedom (CXL) alliance.

She was one of the favorites against the re-election of Ortega, a 76-year-old former guerrilla who has ruled since 2007 and won a fourth consecutive term last November.

The journalist argued for a single opposition candidacy to challenge Ortega.

The accusation against Chamorro arose after the Interior Ministry, which oversees the NGO’s work, indicated that it had found irregularities in the foundation’s accounting and referred the case to the prosecutor’s office, which requested her arrest.

Cristiana Chamorro was one of seven presidential candidates arrested and 39 other opponents last year on charges of attempting to violate “national integrity.”

The opponents were convicted under a defense of sovereignty law passed in 2020 by Congress, controlled by the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).

The opposition and the international community believe the arrests were politically motivated and intended to ensure Ortega’s hold on power.

For the election monitoring NGO Urnas Abiertas, the convictions of the presidential candidates are “the consummation of the political persecution and prosecution of any opposition leadership or force seeking power through the election.”

FAMILY

Trials of opposition figures began on February 1, and at least 40 were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 8 to 13 years.

Relatives of the detainees on Monday firmly pointed out the progressive deterioration of their relatives’ health with heart problems, skin fungus, fainting spells, and symptoms consistent with Covid-19. They demand their release or a change in the prison regime.

One of them, former guerrilla Hugo Torres, died in the hospital after spending several months in prison.

They are four members of the Chamorro family who were arrested between June and September last year. Cristiana and her brother Pedro Joaquín, who was sentenced today, and their cousins Juan Sebastián Chamorro, a former presidential candidate who was sentenced to 13 years in prison, and Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro, executive director of the opposition newspaper La Prensa, whose trial began Monday.

Meanwhile, journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, another Cristiana brother against whom an arrest warrant had been issued, went into exile to avoid arrest.

With information from efe