Samantha Jirón

Samantha Jirón: 22 year old political prisoner

At the age of 10, Samantha Jirón’s mother saw unique qualities in that little girl, such as an intelligence that she did not want to let pass her by, so she decided to start involving her in projects that would help develop her skills. 

At the age of 10, she learned to paint and draw in the psychosocial project “Los Miguelitos”, which helped children emotionally affected by natural disasters. Her leadership began to stand out and for several years she was the youth representative in the project’s elections. 

That leadership led Samantha to develop other skills in being able to help others: at the age of 14, she learned to give first aid, obtained a scholarship granted for students with academic excellence by the Villeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation and until her fourth year, she studied at the Don Bosco Salesian School in Masaya. 

In April 2018, when social protests erupted and the regime’s crackdown was leaving injured people everywhere, Samantha assisted people in need of medical attention and as a result also became a target that the regime wanted to silence. 

This forced her to leave Nicaragua and relocate to Costa Rica for two years, where she did not give up her vocation of service. On the contrary, she continued learning in a Patient Assistant course and collaborated with the Arias Foundation for Peace while founding the organizations Las Brujas de las Colmenas and the Red de Mujeres Pinoleras. 

She completed her bachelor’s degree during her exile in 2019. Upon her return to Nicaragua, the Arias Foundation asked her to become a liaison for the Women for Peace Program. 

Samantha joined the Alliance of Youth and Students of Nicaragua (AJEN), an organization part of the Civil Alliance for Justice and Democracy (Alianza Civíca por la Justicia y la Democracia). Later, Samantha became part of the National Blue and White Unity (UNAB) and also became involved in the campaign team of presidential pre-candidate Félix Maradiaga, now a political prisoner. 

On November 9, 2021, Samantha Jirón was captured by people in civilian clothes operating for the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. She was leaving the Holiday Inn Hotel in Managua where she had given an interview to a local reporter and was chased until she was captured. She was missing for 24 hours until her mother learned that she was being held in District III of the National Police in Managua. 

On March 3, 2022, the Seventh Criminal District Judge of Managua, Melvin Vargas, sentenced her to five years in prison, charging her with the unfounded crimes of treason and propagation of false news, which could not be proven by the Prosecutor’s Office. The false crime, argued by the Prosecutor’s Office, was committed against the State of Nicaragua. 

When Samantha was captured, she was studying journalism and political science at two universities in Nicaragua and spent her 22 years in prison, suffering the inhumane conditions that the regime has imposed on those who think differently and exercise their human rights. 

Freedom for Samantha Jirón! 

We demand the Ortega-Murillo regime: Free Nicas Now!