MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥 Nicaragua鈥檚 Sandinista-controlled 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Assembly approved criminal code changes Tuesday that allow the government to try opponents in absentia and seize the assets of the condemned. It's a practice that's already carried out but will now have legal foundation.
The proposal from was approved unanimously in the state party controlled legislature.
Opponents and organizations that have fled or been forced into exile in Ortega鈥檚 years-long campaign to silence critical voices could be fined, sentenced to lengthy prison terms and see their property seized by the government under the approved changes.
Nicaraguan lawyer Uriel Pineda said that with these changes Ortega鈥檚 administration is looking to 鈥渓egalize the arbitrary (actions) that it has been committing, like the confiscation of property,鈥 while at the same time 鈥渞einforcing the structure of repression, giving it a legal framework.鈥 Pineda was exiled and stripped of his nationality last year.
Sandinista party lawmaker Mar铆a Auxiliadora Mart铆nez defended the reform, saying that 鈥渋t is guaranteeing a system of coherent norms鈥 through 鈥渘ew kinds of crimes that will allow the strengthening of the country鈥檚 legal system.鈥
Fellow party lawmaker Edwin Castro said it authorizes the seizures from Nicaraguans or foreigners 鈥渢o compensate society for the crime committed.鈥
Last year, the government exiled more than 300 opposition figures, stripping them of their nationality. themselves to escape the repression that followed massive 2018 protests that Ortega dubbed a failed coup with international backing.
The changes also add new criminal statutes, including one that sanctions anyone who promotes, requests or facilitates economic, commercial or financial sanctions against the government.
Also on Tuesday, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Office said in a report that the government is 鈥減ersecuting not only those who express dissident opinions, but also any person or organization that acts independently or is not directly under its control.鈥
During the report鈥檚 presentation in Geneva on Tuesday, spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said the criminal code reforms 鈥渨ill only aggravate the situation鈥 of thousands of exiled Nicaraguans. 鈥淚f this law is adopted it will further criminalize dissidence, including in the case of those who are in exile and face great difficulties.鈥
The legal changes can also be applied to businesses and other organizations.
The government has since 2018, many of them religious in nature.
