These new convictions bring to 28 out of 46 the number of opponents to the already convicted head of state.
A Nicaraguan court has found three opponents of President Daniel Ortega, a former presidential candidate and two former ministers guilty of undermining sovereignty, a human rights organization announced on Thursday (February 24th).
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After seven days of hearing, former presidential candidate Arturo Cruz, 77, ex-head of diplomacy Francisco Aguirre, 77, and former deputy foreign minister José Pallais, 68, were found guilty on Wednesday night of conspiring to overthrow Mr. Ortega, an act seen as “betrayal of the fatherland“. Their sentence was not pronounced immediately, said the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh).
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The three men are among 46 opponents arrested in the months preceding the November 7 presidential election which saw the head of state, without any real opposition, being re-elected for a fourth consecutive term. The former guerrilla in power since 2007 accuses them of having hatched a plot against him with the support of the United States.
With Wednesday’s convictions, 28 of these 46 opponents have already been sentenced. The sentences already handed down range from 8 to 13 years in prison. According to the Cenidh, 170 of the main opponents and critics of the government are currently imprisoned.