The trial of former Nicaraguan presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro began behind closed doors Thursday in a Managua prison amid an
"exaggerated"
deployment of police forces, the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights said. 'Man (Cenidh).
Read alsoNicaragua: the main opponent, Cristiana Chamorro, under house arrest
Cristiana Chamorro was placed under house arrest on June 2, 2021, days after announcing her intention to face Daniel Ortega in the November 2021 ballot, for which she was favored by polls.
She is the daughter of President Violeta Chamorro, who defeated Daniel Ortega at the polls in 1990. The trial is being held in the sinister prison of El Chipote, where since February 1 the trials of opponents arrested the year last.
"Not content with carrying out a trial illegally in a prison, (the authorities) have militarized the entire prison complex in a threatening manner (...) with an exaggerated police presence"
, denounced the Cenidh on Twitter.
Cristiana Chamorro, a 68-year-old journalist, is accused of money laundering, mismanagement, ideological falsehood and embezzlement when she was head of the Foundation for the Promotion and Defense of Press Freedom and Freedom of phrase bearing the name of his mother, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (FVBCH).
According to the prosecution, the foundation was used to receive money from abroad intended to destabilize the government of Daniel Ortega and his vice-president and wife Rosario Murillo.
46 opponents placed in detention
The arrest of Cristiana Chamorro was the first of a series of 46 opponents placed in detention, including seven pre-candidates for the presidential election.
At least 31 of them have already been convicted, 18 of whom have been sentenced to between 8 and 13 years in prison.
One of them, Hugo Torres, a Sandinista guerrilla hero who turned opposition to Daniel Ortega, died in hospital custody last month.
The former favorite in the polls for the presidential election is judged at the same time as her brother Pedro Joaquin, two former executives of the FVBCH, as well as her driver, all in detention.
Several days of trial
The trial could last several days, according to Me Maynor Curtis, Pedro Joaquin Chamorro's lawyer.
The prosecution has planned to call 33 witnesses, including
"about twenty police officers"
, said the lawyer.
"Each witness will be questioned by the prosecution, and then by each of the lawyers
," he told AFP.
The prosecution will also question five experts on the computers and mobile phones seized from the defendants and the FVBCH during the arrests and searches, added Curtis.
The lawyer said he will see Cristiana Chamorro for the first time since her arrest as she has been kept
"in solitary confinement"
in her home.
“Only her children can visit her
” and even her lawyers could not be in contact with her, he stressed.
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/PA3IU3N55QI4754TLKKIPUW5TI.jpg)
/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/prisa/HLK7GOESWRBMZA2KE2VATJISN4.jpg)
