Alberto José Centeno Ruíz
The “best dancer in Masaya” arrested for inviting the population to “Los Cirineos”
Alberto José Centeno Ruiz, born on June 20, 2001 in Masaya, is a 23 year old young man who since he was a child showed his love for the traditions of his land. Passionate about folkloric dance, he participated in numerous cultural activities and earned the title of “Best dancer of our people”. In addition to his love for dance, Alberto is a young Catholic, known for his friendly character, his community spirit and his work selling lottery tickets.
On April 3rd, 2023, Alberto’s life changed drastically. That day he shared on Facebook an cinvitacion to participate in the traditional religious activity of “Los Cirineos,” in Nindirí, a religious celebration that had been prohibited by the police in the framework of the growing religious persecution in Nicaragua.
That same day at 7:00pm, Alberto was violently detained in Nindirí by police agents, who punched and kicked him in the abdomen and put his feet on his face. It was alleged that his detention was due to his Sandinista dissidence and the publications he shared on social networks against the government.
After being beaten, Alberto was transferred to District III of Managua, where he remained in forced disappearance for 70 days. During his time there, he was subjected to constant interrogations between 3:00am and 4:00 am, where he was insistently asked who his “coup leader” was.
The expression “golpista”, was coined by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo after the 2018 protests to identify those who had protested against their government and demanded their resignation.
On June 9, 2023, he was transferred to La Modelo prison in Tipitapa, where his relatives were finally able to visit him on June 12. The impact of Alberto’s detention goes beyond his own suffering. At the end of 2023, while he was in prison, his daughter was born, whom he has not been able to see grow up or share the first moments of her life. This forced separation has caused deep pain for Alberto and his family, who live each day in the hope of his early release.
Alberto is currently incarcerated in Gallery 16 of La Modelo. He suffers from asthma, a condition that has worsened due to the lack of adequate medical attention in prison, where he is not allowed to have an inhaler to control possible asthmatic episodes. In addition, he has been suffering from a rash for months, without receiving the necessary treatment. Since March 2024, prison guards have been waking him up between 2:00am and 3:00 am to count the detainees, systematically interrupting his sleep.
Alberto was sentenced to 8 years in prison on charges of “propagation of false news and undermining national integrity”. However, his detention and conviction lacked due process, which has been denounced by human rights organizations.
Since June 2024, Alberto has had precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an international recognition of the seriousness of his situation.
¡Liberty for Alberto José Centeno Ruíz!
We demand the Ortega-Murillo regime: FreeNicasNow!
