Nicaraguan opposition leader Yubrank Suazo was condemned to 10 years in prison

• The CENIDH said that Yubrank Suazo was given a 10-year prison sentence.
• He took part in protests against President Daniel Ortega’s government in 2018.
• The group said that the hearing was a “judicial farce”.

The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) said Wednesday that Yubrank Suazo, a leader of the Nicaraguan opposition who took part in protests against President Daniel Ortega’s government in 2018, was given a 10-year prison sentence.

Judge Ulisa Tapia Silva gave the sentence in a court in the capital, Managua. The group said he got five years in prison for conspiring to hurt the country’s reputation and another five years for spreading false news. He also had to pay a fine of about $1,500.

Suazo was a director at CENIDH, which said that the sentence was unfair. It said that the hearing was a “judicial farce” and that the authorities had broken the “guarantees of due process.” over and over again.

Most of the time, journalists are not allowed to be present when opposition leaders are tried in Nicaragua. CENIDH said that only Suazo’s defence lawyer was there at the hearing.

Maynor Curtis, who is Suazo’s defence lawyer, said that he will appeal the sentence.

Suazo was arrested on May 18 of this year at his parents’ house in the western city of Masaya. Four years ago, there were many protests against the government in that city.

Suazo was jailed for almost a year in 2018 because he took part in the protests. In 2019, he was freed because of a law that let protesters go free.

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