WHEREAS, for more than a year and a half the regime of Daniel Ortega has unjustly kept the general manager of La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo Holmann, in prison, and two employees of the newspaper were arrested in July of this year
WHEREAS, the Ortega dictatorship completed the usurpation of the newspaper La Prensa with the inauguration of a government office in its headquarters - which had been under police control since last year
WHEREAS, in addition to the directors of La Prensa, Cristiana Chamorro and Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, and commentator Jaime Arellano - under house arrest; and Miguel Mora of 100% Noticias and sports reporter Miguel Mendoza - who have held hunger strikes in prison amid complaints over their deteriorating health - are also behind bars after being hit with unjust prison sentences
WHEREAS, more than 150 journalists have fled the country since the events of April 2018 - including all members of the La Prensa newsroom
WHEREAS, prior to the imprisonment of a Bishop and other priests, the dictatorship closed the television channel and several radio stations of the Catholic Church, as well as the signal of the international television network CNN en Español
WHEREAS, the government has eliminated the legal status of 2,381 non-governmental organizations, including religious orders, universities, foreign foundations, environmental agencies, etc., on the grounds that they are "vulnerable to terrorist financing"
WHEREAS, Principle 1 of the Chapultepec Declaration states: "There are no free people or societies without freedom of speech and press. The exercise of these freedoms is not granted by authorities; it is an inalienable right of the people."
THE 78TH IAPA GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLVES
To demand the immediate release of the general manager of La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo Holmann, and the other Nicaraguan journalists jailed and sentenced without due process, as well as the release of more than 200 political prisoners
To condemn the illegal seizure of the offices of the newspaper La Prensa and the constant persecution of its directors, journalists and employees
To demand the return of the CNN en Español signal, as well as the television channel and radio stations of the Catholic Church - shut down by the regime
To ask for an end to the persecution of non-governmental organizations, aimed at allowing greater State control over social activities, and to the detriment of the welfare of the people
To urge the international community to keep on its agenda the issue of the return to democracy in Nicaragua and to back the action plan to support independent media and journalists, presented in April of this year by press freedom organizations led by the IAPA.
