In a new episode of restrictions on press freedom in Nicaragua, Víctor Ticay, a journalist from this Central American country, has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being accused of spreading false information and conspiring to destabilize national integrity. The sentence, considered by many as “treason”, was issued today by a non-governmental organization that defends human rights.
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Ticay, who works in collaboration with ‘Canal 10’, a local television station, and the address of the Facebook page ‘La Portada’, has been sentenced to five years in prison, for his alleged involvement in acts that would have undermined the integrity national.
In addition, he faces an additional three years in prison for his alleged involvement in illegal cyber activities. The NGO Nicaragua Nunca Más Human Rights Collective, made up mostly of Nicaraguan activists in exile in Costa Rica, released the sentence.
Journalist Victor Ticay is under arrest in the National Penitentiary System, known as La Modelo, a high-security prison located on the outskirts of the capital, Managua.
The journalist’s arrest took place on Holy Thursday when police officers from a municipality located 56 kilometers southwest of the capital detained him just one day after he covered a religious ceremony that the National Police had tried to ban in that town.
Ticay’s arrest joins that of other journalists
But the case of Ticay was not the only one. The detainees are, among others, the opposition member Olesia Auxiliadora Muñoz Pavón and the student leader Jasson Noel Salazar Rugama. Their arrests came less than two weeks before the fifth anniversary of the 2018 protests against the government of Daniel Ortega, including
In a bleak landscape of oppression and fear, Nicaragua continues to fight for press freedom. According to the most recent report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the country ranks 158th in the World Press Freedom Ranking 2023. Although it has climbed two positions since last year, the respite is short, as “the independent press continues to live a nightmare,” according to RSF.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the eight-year prison sentence issued to Nicaraguan journalist Victor Ticay and called for his immediate release from prison. @pressfreedom https://t.co/v4LVJRKft5
— CPJ Americas (@CPJAmericas) August 17, 2023
The situation in the country has become increasingly disturbing since the re-election of President Ortega in 2021, who is now in his fourth term. Independent journalists face censorship, harassment, and arbitrary detention.
Threats are increasingly common and add to the stigmatization of those who practice this profession. This has led many journalists to flee the country in search of safety.
Repression in the Central American country grows
Currently, in the midst of reprisals, independent media such as ‘Radio Corporación’ and the news program ‘Acción 10’ are resisting. In a country where it is already risky to practice independent journalism, the simple task of reporting on the street has become dangerous.
The persecution of the press is added to that of the representatives of the Catholic Church. That is the case of the arrest of the Nicaraguan Catholic bishop, Rolando Álvarez.
Álvarez, a renowned critic of President Daniel Ortega, had been sentenced in February to more than 26 years in prison on treason charges, after refusing to be deported to the United States.
This conflict between the Catholic Church and the Ortega government has its roots in 2018, when religious leaders were called to mediate anti-government protests that ended in violence, leaving a balance of more than 300 people dead.
The Ortega regime has promoted oppressive laws, such as the Special Cybercrime Law, known as ‘Gag Law’which punishes criticism of the government on social networks.
With EFE and local media
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