Oppositionist Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, whom the president of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, avoided facing in the controversial recent presidential elections by being imprisoned, was sentenced this Monday to eight years in prison for the crimes of money laundering, goods and assets, appropriation and improper retention, abusive management and ideological falsehood.
Chamorro, a 68-year-old journalist by profession and who has been under house arrest since June 2, 2021, was sentenced by Judge Luden Martín Quiroz, of the ninth district criminal trial court in Managua, reported the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights. Human Rights (Cenidh), which followed up on the case, in a statement
Daughter of the assassinated Nicaraguan hero and anti-Somocista journalist Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal and former president Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (1990-1997), Cristiana Chamorro was the opposition figure most likely to win the November 7 presidential elections, in which Ortega he was reelected for his fifth term, fourth in a row and second along with his wife, Rosario Murillo, as vice president, with his main contenders in prison.
Persecuted opponents
Chamorro is the seventh opponent who aspired to be a candidate for the presidency of Nicaragua in the last elections to be found guilty and sentenced for the crimes of money laundering or treason.
The other six are the academic Arturo Cruz, who was ambassador to the United States of the Ortega government between (2007-2009), from whom he distanced himself; the activist, academic and leader of the Blue and White National Unity, Félix Maradiaga, and the economist and nephew-in-law of former President Barrios de Chamorro, Juan Sebastián Chamorro.
Also the journalist Miguel Mora, founder, owner and former director of the television channel 100% Noticias, closed by the authorities and now broadcast on the internet platform; peasant leader Medardo Mairena; and the lawyer and conservative politician Noel Vidaurre.
The trial of Cristiana Chamorro is part of a series of legal proceedings against forty opposition leaders and critics of the Sandinista government, who were imprisoned prior to those elections and were mostly accused of “treason against the country” or money laundering.
Accused relatives
The Prosecutor’s Office accused the opposition journalist in her capacity as president of the NGO Fundación Violeta Barrios de Chamorro based on a complaint from the Ministry of the Interior.
According to the Government, this NGO, dedicated to the protection and promotion of freedom of the press and expression, “seriously breached its obligations before the Regulatory Entity, and from the analysis of the Financial Statements, period 2015-2019, clear indications of money laundering were obtained. of money”.
Together with the journalist, the general accountant and the financial administrator of the Foundation, Marcos Fletes and Walter Gómez, respectively, and Chamorro’s personal driver, Pedro Vásquez, were sentenced to 13 years in prison, who were accused of similar crimes.
The court also sentenced Cristiana’s older brother, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Barrios, 70, to nine years. Both are members of the Board of Directors of the Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa, which on March 2 celebrated its 96th anniversary.
For the investigation of this case, the Prosecutor’s Office called thirty journalists to testify as witnesses, including the writer, novelist and former vice president of Nicaragua, Sergio Ramírez Mercado, in his capacity as legal representative of the NGO Luisa Mercado Foundation, which had a relationship with the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation, and had to go into exile to avoid being arrested.
Ortega has branded the imprisoned and judged opponents as “traitors to the country”, “criminals” and “sons of bitches of the Yankee imperialists”. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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