The association condemned the arrest of the director of La Prensa newspaper in Nicaragua

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CEO of influential newspaper La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo Holman. EFE / Jorge Torres / Archive

American Press Association (SIP) on Saturday Dante Arrest and solitary confinement of the General Director of La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo HolmanAnd After raiding the newspaper’s offices.

The organisation, based in Miami and dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas, He blamed the “dictatorship” of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo for the episode that led to advances in the rights of the opposition and the media in the country.

However, the Nicaraguan police confirm this Holman investigated for “customs fraud and money laundering”.

According to the IAPA, Holman, with his arrest, became the The 33rd political prisoner of the regime that has stepped up repression since last May against opponents, presidential candidates, media outlets and independent journalists..

Archive the image.  Nicaraguan policemen take part in a raid on the offices of La Prensa, the only national newspaper, after the government of President Daniel Ortega opened investigations into customs fraud and money laundering against the publication, in Managua, Nicaragua.  August 13, 2021. REUTERS/MINOR Valenzuela No results.  no files
Archive the image. Nicaraguan policemen take part in a raid on the offices of La Prensa, the only national newspaper, after the government of President Daniel Ortega opened investigations into customs fraud and money laundering against the publication, in Managua, Nicaragua. August 13, 2021. REUTERS/MINOR Valenzuela No results. no files

In addition to being a director of La Prensa newspaper, Holman is the Nicaraguan Regional Vice President of the International Association for Press and Information’s Committee on Press and Media Freedom.

Holman’s arrest came after that the press The publication of its print edition will be halted next Friday due to government obstacles to freeing the newspaper from national customs.

on Friday, Police forces entered the newspaper’s offices without a court order and hijacked accounting information, computers and servers from the financial district.

Only last Thursday the press He had denounced the fact that their paper copies had ceased to be circulated because the Nicaraguan General Directorate of Customs kept the newspaper’s raw materials in custody.

in this time, The country’s only remaining print newspaper facilities remain in police hands.

Nicaraguan police raid the offices of La Prensa newspaper.  Photograph: Minor Valenzuela/Reuters
Nicaraguan police raid the offices of La Prensa newspaper. Photograph: Minor Valenzuela/Reuters

Holman, for his part, He was transferred to legal aid prisons, where he is still held incommunicado.

IAPA President, Jorge Canahuati, personally, condemned the search and detention of Holman.

“Yes We have fallen short of words to denounce Ortega’s dictatorship, He said each day gives clues on how to get opponents and critics out of the way to pave their way toward the November elections.

For his part, the head of the Press Freedom Committee said:Carlos Journey condemned “they continue to invent crimes against… the press with the intent of ruling with impunity.”

“We insist on organizations and the international community on We need to speak out strongly against attacks on this newspaper, its directors and journalists.”Canahwati, president of the OPSA Group, from Honduras, and Jorne, director of the newspaper The voice inside, from Argentina.

A delivery worker displays a copy of the Nicaraguan daily La Prensa, which will no longer publish a print edition complaining that President Daniel Ortega's administration was withholding the newspaper it used to publish, in Managua, Nicaragua.  August 12, 2021. REUTERS/MINOR Valenzuela No results.  no files
A delivery worker displays a copy of the Nicaraguan daily La Prensa, which will no longer publish a print edition complaining that President Daniel Ortega’s administration was withholding the newspaper it used to publish, in Managua, Nicaragua. August 12, 2021. REUTERS/MINOR Valenzuela No results. no files

With its facilities taken and paperworkAnd the press She continues to report on her embed site, laprensa.com.ni. Since 2018, two other independent media, 100% news NS trustedThey were also illegally interfered with and their facilities were granted to the state.

Holman is the second regional vice chair of the IAPA to have been arrested in recent weeks. On July 11, he was arrested in Cuba Henry Constantin Ferrero, released after 15 days. Constantine served as IAPA’s regional vice president for five years.

Several countries and international organizations stated that they were following up the search for the press This act was condemned by the Nicaraguan authorities. in the first place, The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights condemned the “ongoing official persecution of the press in Nicaragua”.

file image.  A woman wearing a protective mask to combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) walks past a photo of Nicaragua's President, Daniel Ortega, and Vice President Rosario Murillo, in Managua, Nicaragua.  March 27, 2020 (Reuters)
file image. A woman wearing a protective mask to combat the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) walks past a photo of Nicaragua’s President, Daniel Ortega, and Vice President Rosario Murillo, in Managua, Nicaragua. March 27, 2020 (Reuters)

The State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs also called on Ortega to “respect freedom of expression in La Prensa.” Instead of working to silence independent reporting,” he explained on Twitter.

Similarly, international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued a similar message. “Ortega has already destroyed any possibility of a fair election,” José Miguel Vivanco, director of the Americas division of the NGO Human Rights Watch, said on Twitter. “If the international community does not respond, Ortega will turn Nicaragua into a black hole,” he warned.

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