Juan Lorenzo Holmann

Juan Lorenzo Holmann: symbol of the legacy of freedom of expression and struggle of the newspaper La Prensa

A few months before his arbitrary detention, Juan Lorenzo Holmann had assumed the general management of the newspaper La Prensa, which was going through financial problems derived from censorship, withholding of materials, and notable harassment of journalists by the Daniel Ortega regime and Rosario Murillo.

Holmann, 55, is the youngest of seven siblings and during his adolescence his parents decided to send him to Costa Rica, due to the Mandatory Military Service in force in their country.

In 1997, after having returned to Nicaragua, he married Chrystal Munguía, a young Chinandegan whom he had met during his stay in Costa Rica and whom he met again later. They had two daughters.

Juan Lorenzo enjoyed doing family activities, which he complemented with reading and regular walks, recommended after having heart surgery in 2019. That year, Juan Lorenzo was diagnosed with a mitral valve problem in his heart that required surgical intervention. and therefore must be in treatment. During the first weeks of detention, his wife learned that she had fainted.

Additionally, Juan Lorenzo has a condition in the aorta and a problem in one of his eyes, so there is concern that he could lose his sight due to a lack of proper care.

His family and acquaintances describe him as a person with a strong character, loyal and the type that “tells things to your face”, however, he is also known for his enormous sense of justice and great love for Nicaragua.” according to the newspaper La Prensa in a profile published in Domingo Magazine in October 2021.

According to the same newspaper, these values were what led her mother to delegate him to represent her on the Board of Directors of La Prensa, which later led him to be secretary of the same Board of Directors and later general manager of the Nicaraguan newspaper. .

While he was managing the newspaper, on August 13, 2021, the Police seized the facilities of La Prensa and, by deceit, forced him to go to the police station to sign some documents.

Later, the Police announced that Juan Lorenzo Holmann had been arrested and was being investigated for the crime of money laundering. The trial was held behind closed doors, unfoundedly accusing him of committing said crime. Judge Nadia Camila Tardencilla sentenced him in March 2022 to 9 years in prison.

In more than 400 days of deprivation of liberty in the Evaristo Vásquez Complex known as “El Chipote”, his family has only seen him 10 times, the most recent almost two months ago. On August 31, he was exhibited in the Managua Judicial Complex, along with other political prisoners, in a humiliating manner by the Police and the Judiciary in prisoner’s uniform in an “informative hearing”, which does not exist in Nicaraguan law. On that occasion, he looked thin, emaciated, and with dark circles under his eyes that show the inhumane treatment he is receiving.

On September 30, 2022, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted precautionary measures to Juan Lorenzo and his family nucleus after considering that he is in a serious and “urgent situation of irreparable damage to his rights.” In Nicaragua”. The State of Nicaragua has not complied with what was requested by the Inter-American Commission.

On December 28, 2022, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requested the Inter-American Court to extend provisional measures in favor of eleven people deprived of their liberty in Nicaragua, along with their respective family nuclei, who are in a situation of extreme seriousness and urgency of irreparable damage to their rights in Nicaragua. Among these people, Juan Lorenzo Holmann.

On January 10, 2023, the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights adopted urgent measures for 11 people deprived of liberty in Nicaragua. He pointed out that he does not receive medical attention for any of his ailments and that the conditions

in which he is found are considered “severe, degrading and inhumane and that demonstrate the seriousness and urgency of preventing imminent risks to his life, integrity and health from materializing.”

Freedom for Juan Lorenzo Holmann!

We demand from the Ortega-Murillo regime: FreeNicasNow!