Journalists critical of Ortega feel targeted ahead of elections

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Three journalists have been arrested, three are under investigation for alleged money laundering, a dozen have left the country for safety reasons, and three others have been granted protective measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) after warning that “they are being threatened, harassed and monitored” by authorities and private individuals for their work.

Journalists in Nicaragua “are not safe,” journalist Willih Narváez said, to whom the IACHR granted protective measures yesterday.

“I know that over 15 journalists have gone into exile because of summons from the Prosecutor’s Office, because of imprisonment threats,” said Narváez, interviewer and reporter for Channel 10 and part of the team of Divergente investigative platform.

More than 30 reporters and editors have been summoned by the Prosecutor’s Office in a case brought against an NGO for the alleged crimes of abusive management, ideological falsehood, both concurrently with money laundering, property and assets, and they are being asked how they obtain information and how they disclose it, according to their testimony.

“It is highly risky to practice journalism in Nicaragua,” continued Narváez, who has been facing threats since April 2018 on social networks, as well as attacks by police officers, harassment by third parties sympathetic to the government, and death threats against him and his family.

ARRESTED, EXILED, SUBPOENAED AND THREATENED

Vice President Rosario Murillo has warned journalists against publishing “fake news” on health issues, with information from “false doctors and with false prognoses,” which is punishable under the Special Law on Cybercrimes, providing for sentences of between 1 and 10 years in prison.

She has also attacked journalists whom she accused of “fabricating anything to spread terror,” calling them “evil,” “hypocrites,” “destructive,” “criminals,” “communication terrorists,” and thanked God that “they have been reduced to a miserable few.”

In recent weeks, at least 20 journalists have left Nicaragua, according to monitoring by the Independent Journalists and Communicators of Nicaragua (PCIN) organization.

Journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, one of the most critical voices of the Ortega government and winner of the 38th Ortega y Gasset Journalism Awards, announced his exile “to protect his safety” after his home was raided and searched by the National Police.

Authorities arrested journalists Cristiana Chamorro, Miguel Mora and Miguel Mendoza on charges of engaging in acts that undermine Nicaragua’s sovereignty.

Chamorro and Mora were running for the Presidency of Nicaragua for the opposition and Mendoza was a critic of the Government on social networks.

The Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating María Lilly Delgado, correspondent of Univision Hispanic network in Nicaragua, and journalists Lourdes Arróliga and Guillermo Medrano in the case brought against the NGO.

“WE DO NOTHING AS PRISONERS, WE DO NOTHING IF DEAD”

“We have been declared enemies for doing journalism,” commented journalist Sergio Marín, director of La Mesa Redonda news platform, who left for Costa Rica.

“The moment has come when one has to think about saving one’s life, when one has to consider taking refuge in order to continue informing the people of Nicaragua,” said David Quintana, director of Boletín Ecológico news outlet, explaining the reasons for his exile.

“We do nothing as prisoners, we do nothing if dead,” reasoned Quintana, who live-streamed the popular uprising that erupted in April 2018 over controversial social security reforms and which later escalated into a demand for President Ortega’s resignation.

The PCIN, a trade organization to which several of the journalists who have left the country belonged, has chosen to lower its profile in the current context, and refrained from commenting.

La Prensa, Nicaragua’s oldest newspaper, alerted in a report that the government “is trying to impose a news blackout” in the country with four months left before the elections, in which Ortega, in power since 2007, will seek a new reelection.

For Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Ortega, who has labeled journalists as “Goebbels’ children,” is among the leaders who have joined the list of “predators of press freedom” due to his policy of “economic asphyxiation” and “judicial censorship” of independent media.