Nicaragua authorizes trial of individuals and companies accused of crimes abroad

The Nicaraguan Parliament, dominated by Sandinismo, reformed the country’s Penal Code on Tuesday (3), paving the way for the trial of individuals or legal entities, Nicaraguan or foreign, who commit cybercrimes or crimes against public administration, against the State or its institutions, among others, outside the national territory.

The reform, proposed by the country’s dictator, Daniel Ortega, was approved by 88 of the 91 members of Parliament.

The initiative reformed 27 of the 568 articles of the Penal Code, including one that establishes that Nicaraguan criminal laws will also apply to Nicaraguans or foreigners who have committed any of the following crimes outside the national territory: money laundering, terrorism and its financing, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and its financing, and organized crime.

Also included are crimes against public administration; against the State or its institutions; cybercrimes and any other that can be brought to trial in Nicaragua, in accordance with international instruments ratified by the country, among others.

The penalties for these crimes, according to the reform, range from imprisonment, confiscation of property or assets, and fines. In cases of imprisonment for serious crimes, the penalties can be up to life imprisonment.

Before the approval of the penal reform, opposition leaders and Nicaraguan lawyers in exile expressed the opinion that Ortega wants to prosecute opponents of his government in absentia.

“The reform not only seeks to expand the regime’s ability to persecute opponents in Nicaragua, but also to extend its reach beyond national borders, becoming a weapon of transnational repression,” said Felix Maradiaga, a Nicaraguan opposition leader in exile.

According to him, the reform gives the green light to “judge and confiscate the assets of exiles, expanding their ability to silence opposition anywhere in the world.”

For exiled Nicaraguan lawyer and former opposition deputy Eliseo Núñez, anyone accused of the aforementioned crimes can now be sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia.