Student protest leader is jailed for 13 years

Nicaragua sentenced a student protest leader and a former Sandinista rebel commander to prison on Thursday 10 February on charges of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity”, the latest in a string of prison sentences following brief trials this month, reports the Associated Press.

Student leader Lesther Alemán (24), who famously stood up to Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega and told him to surrender in 2018, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Dora María Téllez (65), who led an assault on the National Palace in 1978 during the Somoza family dictatorship, holding congress members hostage in exchange for the release of rebel prisoners, was sentenced to eight years in prison. Both were among dozens of opposition figures arrested by the Ortega regime last summer in the run-up to November’s presidential elections.

The Nicaraguan University Alliance, which Alemán founded after massive popular protests began against the government in April 2018, said the main piece of evidence by the prosecution at his trial was a recording of his speech during an initial attempt at dialogue, in which he called on Ortega to step down. The alliance called his sentence “revenge” by Ortega.
Full report on the AP site