Preventive detention issued against opposition leader from Masaya in Nicaragua

Should Biden invite Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela to the Summit of the Americas? 2:51 (CNN Spanish) — In Nicaragua, the justice ratified the preventive detention of the opposition leader and former political prisoner Yubrank Suazo, who had been arrested since May 18 and was presented this Tuesday at an initial hearing, held behind closed doors. in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance. Suazo faces charges of alleged conspiracy to undermine national integrity and spread false news, according to the opposition Civic Alliance and the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (Cenidh), on their social networks. “This morning an initial hearing was held against our member Yubrank Suazo. Today it became clear that the regime continues to commit the same arbitrariness of holding secret trials in the torture prison known as ‘El nuevo Chipote,’” the Civic Alliance reported through its social networks. For its part, the Cenidh reported that Suazo will continue under preventive detention: “In the hearing, which lasted 40 minutes, the presence of Suazo’s family was denied, judge Nadia Tardencilla rejected the request for a precautionary measure, confirmed the preventive detention and declared him ‘complex processing’, that is, the time for the trial, whose date was not indicated, is doubled. The Cenidh condemned what it called “a very serious violation of due process and procedural rules” and demanded Suazo’s immediate release. CNN has not been able to obtain independent information on this case since the trial is taking place behind closed doors and without access to the press. The Judiciary does not provide details of these trials nor does it respond to queries from independent media, and the Public Ministry does not update the information on the cases either. Suazo was arrested on May 18 at his house, in the city of Masaya, as reported by Cenidh at the time. Days before, Suazo had denounced on his social networks the presence of motorcycles in front of his parents’ house. Suazo was detained for almost a year in 2018 for actively participating in protests against the government, he was released in June 2019, benefiting from the Amnesty Law approved by the National Assembly that year.