Nicaragua sentences two workers of the newspaper 'La Prensa' to 90 days in prison

Nicaraguan authorities confiscate the properties of almost a dozen NGOs

MADRID, 10 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

A Nicaraguan judge this Saturday issued a precautionary prison sentence of up to 90 days to two workers of the newspaper 'La Prensa', after they were arrested for reporting on the expulsion of religious missionaries from the country.

The workers of said newspaper are in the cells of the Judicial Assistance Directorate (DAJ), the media itself has reported, adding that the reasons for the accusation are unknown. Police agents went, in fact, to the home of the reporter who did the coverage and raided the house of a newspaper photographer.

The newspaper has called for the release of its workers. "The Press demands respect for the laws, the release of the detainees and the cessation of the persecution of the newspaper's staff who only carry out their work, without committing any crime," the newspaper has published.

'La Prensa' has explained that this measure is the response to the coverage that the media outlet had carried out on the expulsion to Costa Rica of about twenty religious missionaries of the Missionaries of Charity order.

The Government of Nicaragua, led by Daniel Ortega, carried out the expulsion of 18 nuns last Wednesday, a fact that would find justification in the drift that the Nicaraguan Executive would have taken against the Church by considering it "opposition and coup plotter", as denounced Aleteia.

Ortega would have ordered the confiscation of seven NGOs that had previously been outlawed, as confirmed by the newspaper 'Confidencial'.

The non-governmental organizations that reportedly denounced the "invasion" of their properties were Operación Sonrisa, Centro Humboldt, Puntos de Encuentro, La Corriente, Cantera, CEPS, and ANIA.

On the other hand, two additional NGOs -- which have requested that they not be identified -- have been closed down, the aforementioned media outlet reported.

The Nicaraguan National Assembly approved a law in April that tightens the government's control over NGOs, after in recent months the Executive of Daniel Ortega has ordered the closure of independent organizations appealing to alleged formal irregularities.

The General Law for the Regulation and Control of Non-Profit Organizations leaves NGOs at the mercy of the Ministry of the Interior, which has the power to introduce the operating requirements of the organizations and, by extension, the withdrawal of permits. The measure also affects international NGOs, according to the Assembly itself.

The ruling party controls the National Assembly, thanks to which it has managed to pass laws tailored to the criteria of the Government of Daniel Ortega. Both the internal opposition and international organizations have warned of the growing pressure on independent entities, although the authorities have justified the closure of NGOs and universities by virtue of administrative arguments.