Max Sherry
(CNN Spanish) --
The former vice chancellor of Nicaragua Víctor Hugo Tinoco and the student leader Max Jerez were found guilty of the crime of conspiracy to undermine national integrity, during trials held in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, according to the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh).
"Another legal aberration, this time against the political prisoner Víctor Hugo Tinoco," Cenidh said on its Twitter account, adding that the Prosecutor's Office requested a 13-year sentence for him.
Nicaraguan Justice Convicts Former Presidential Candidate and Two Other Oppositionists Guilty of Conspiracy
Cristian Tinoco Parrales, daughter of the former vice chancellor, told CNN that her mother was present at the trial, that the witnesses were three policemen, two of whom participated in the search of her house and one in her arrest on public roads, adding that as evidence against his father they presented a plane ticket for a trip to Uruguay, an interview on channel 10 where he asked for free and transparent elections and US visa application documents.
Tinoco Parrales said that his father, almost 70 years old, expressed in the trial that the only thing he has fought for for 50 years is for justice and the democratization of Nicaragua and within the Sandinista party itself while he was part of it.
The sentence against Tinoco will be read on February 21, according to his wife.
The Police detained Tinoco on July 14, 2021 in a shopping center in Managua, to be investigated, as reported at the time for alleged acts against sovereignty.
The Cenidh also denounced this Friday on Twitter that the justice system found Max Jerez guilty of conspiracy to undermine national integrity, and that the Prosecutor's Office also requested 13 years in prison for him.
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The Nicaraguan University Alliance (AUN) assured in a statement that Jerez "realized that he had a trial until he entered the room."
The AUN added that during the trial Jerez could only say that “History will show us where we should be.
With dignity and honor I take on this challenge in prison, because every change requires sacrifice.”
Police arrested Jerez on July 5 in Managua, to be investigated also for alleged actions against national sovereignty.
Third peasant leader found guilty
On Thursday afternoon, justice found peasant leader Freddy Navas guilty, as reported by the Nicaraguan Peasant Movement on social networks, adding that the Prosecutor's Office asked for a 10-year prison sentence.
Navas is the third peasant leader convicted of crimes against national sovereignty in the last two weeks.
During the last two weeks, CNN has tried to find out details of these trials, but the judiciary does not respond to inquiries and the Public Ministry has not published any update on their cases on its official page.
So far, 18 opponents have been found guilty of crimes against sovereignty, in closed-door trials at the Judicial Assistance prison, without allowing journalists to enter.
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, through his Twitter account, reiterated on Tuesday the demand for the release of detained opponents and considered that this would be "an essential first step for peace and democracy in Nicaragua".