Miguel Mora Barberena

Miguel Mora Berberena, a journalist turned political prisoner

Miguel Mora Barberena, 56 years old, owner of the independent media 100% Noticias and former director of the same, declared his innocence in the trial hearing that was held against him in the prison of the Dirección de Auxilio Judicial.

At the conclusion of said hearing, on February 4 of this year, Judge Nadia Camila Tardencilla, following the script established by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, found him guilty of the crime of conspiracy to commit undermining national integrity and sentenced him to 13 years imprisonment.

Miguel had spent six months in prison, from December 2018 to June 2019, in retaliation for the coverage of the protests that began in April 2018 and for disclosing information revealing the repression resorted to by the authorities to silence the protest, including the lethal violence incurred by the police and paramilitary elements that led to the death of at least 355 people.

On that occasion, he was released from prison in June 2019, through the application of the Amnesty Law. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled on this detention, declaring it arbitrary and urging the State to provide reparations and compensation to Miguel Mora. The State ignored the request.

The Inter-American Court granted Provisional Measures, which remained in force until they were lifted at the request of the State, once Miguel was released from prison.

While at liberty, Miguel was a victim of frequent police and paramilitary siege. In one of his first political activities after announcing his interest in becoming president of Nicaragua, held in the city of Masaya on October 11, 2020, paramilitary elements acting in coordination with the police slashed the tires of his vehicle, broke the windows and assaulted him and his wife. She was injured in the head and had to be hospitalized in a hospital in the capital for several days….

By 2021, Miguel was the pre-candidate for President of the Republic for the Democratic Restoration Party (PRD), which was preparing to participate in the November 2021 elections, but in May of that year, the Supreme Electoral Council cancelled the legal personality of the party and left it out of the November elections.

Days later, he was arrested and taken to the Judicial Assistance Directorate where he is deprived of liberty and subjected to treatment that contravenes the Mandela Rules and international human rights treaties to which Nicaragua is a party. This second arrest took place on June 20, 2021.

During the night, the police broke into his home and violently proceeded to arrest him. In the house were his wife and his son Miguel, 21 years old, who is a person with disabilities.

Given the serious risks Miguel faces in prison, the IACHR granted him precautionary measures again as of August 11, 2021. In view of the State’s non-compliance, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights granted Provisional Measures on November 4 of the same year, ordering his immediate release and that of the other beneficiaries. More than six months have passed and the State continues to be in contempt.

Freedom for Miguel Mora Barberena! 

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