They decide to exile the country

SAN JOSÉ (EFE).— At least 253 Nicaraguan journalists have been exiled from Nicaragua for security reasons or have been exiled since April 2018 by the government of Daniel Ortega, says a report released by the NGO Nicaragua Never Again Human Rights Collective. , based in Costa Rica.

The report was released yesterday on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the death of journalist Ángel Gahona, who was shot while covering demonstrations against the Ortega government.

“Since 2018, at least 253 Nicaraguan journalists have left Nicaragua due to the persecution and criminalization of their work from the highest levels of the dictatorship, such as (vice president) Rosario Murillo, who frequently describes them as terrorists,” said the Collective. made up of Nicaraguan activists in exile.

That NGO recalled that in September 2023, the head of the Nicaraguan Army, Julio César Avilés, also disqualified the work of communication professionals by calling them “information mercenaries.”

For its part, the Independent Journalists and Communicators of Nicaragua (PCIN) movement indicated that at least 56 media outlets have been closed or confiscated by the Sandinista government since the crisis broke out, including the influential newspapers La Prensa, Confidencial and 100%. News.

“Unfortunately, the attack on freedom of the press and freedom of expression by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has not stopped,” the PCIN, based in Costa Rica, warned in a statement.

That union also denounced “the imprisonment and arbitrary sentencing of journalist Víctor Ticay, who has been unjustly imprisoned for his journalistic work,” for a year.

“We demand the immediate release of the journalist and the cessation of his arbitrary sentence, as well as any other form of judicial harassment of journalists,” demanded the PCIN, which demanded “respect for the work of communicators and that their safety be guaranteed in the performance of their work.”

In their statement, they claimed “the fundamental right of the Nicaraguan people to freedom of expression and the press, which are essential for the development of a just and democratic society.”

Likewise, they called “to implement protection measures for journalists, preventing future attacks and threats against them.”

In addition, they called on the international community to maintain attention on Nicaragua and to continue supporting the independent press, as well as to condemn human rights violations.

For its part, the Colecitvo also demanded the release of journalist Víctor Ticay, a collaborator of Nicaraguan television Channel 10, who was arrested after broadcasting an activity of the Catholic Church on Facebook Live and was later sentenced to eight years in prison by the crime of disseminating false information and conspiring to undermine national integrity.

The Collective demanded that the Nicaraguan authorities return “all the stolen media, that they release Ticay and that they let the independent Nicaraguan journalists work to guarantee the freedom of expression and of the press violated with the arrival of the dictator to power.” .

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) warned on Friday that the Ortega Government’s violence against Nicaraguan journalists has intensified and that it includes the robbery of their homes, the closing of their bank accounts and attacks on their families.

Nicaragua has been going through a political and social crisis since April 2018, which was accentuated after the controversial general elections of November 7, 2021, in which Ortega, in power since 2007, was re-elected for a fifth and fourth consecutive term, with his main contenders in prison or in exile.