Nicaragua's Parliament to Pardon Protesters Involved in Countrywide Rallies

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The National Assembly of Nicaragua on Saturday approved a draft amnesty law for those involved in protests that erupted across the country last year. The law will apply to everyone who participated in the protests from 18 April last year until the document's entry into force.

The draft legislation also envisages the release of all prisoners detained in those cases and striking them off of judicial records.

Nicaragua has been mired in a political crisis since April 2018 when people took to the streets to protest the unpopular social security reforms announced by President Daniel Ortega.

 

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The president cancelled the reforms days later, but protests continued with people redirecting their discontent at Ortega. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights says 317 people died in approximately three months following the outbreak of protests. 

The Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry, however, maintains that the number is 198.

In late March, Nicaragua agreed during negotiations with the opposition Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, to release all detained prisoners by 18 June to keep the alliance engaged in a dialogue with the government.

Last week, the Civic Alliance said that 233 prisoners remain jailed, while the government maintains that it is 142.

Back in May, Nicaragua released 100 prisoners an hour after the opposition announced that it was withdrawing from talks with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and demanded the release of jailed protesters.

 

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