Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has sent a bill to the ruling party-controlled National Assembly to reform the Penal Code, with the aim, among other things, of imposing prison sentences of between 15 and 30 years for people who promote or request sanctions against public institutions and officials.
Furthermore, the proposal, which adjusts at least 27 articles of Law 641 of the code, seeks to declare that “Nicaraguan criminal laws will also be applicable to Nicaraguans or foreigners who have committed crimes outside the national territory.”
Money laundering, terrorism, and other charges that have been previously levied against opponents of President Daniel Ortega would be tried under the principle of “universality,” meaning it affects everyone, even those outside the country.
The bill was considered on Thursday and is expected to be approved on Tuesday in a parliamentary session, announced the president of the National Assembly, Gustavo Porras, who is under sanctions by the United States.
Vice President Rosario Murillo and her children are also on the list of those sanctioned, as are other officials of the Ortega government.
In December 2020, the National Assembly of Nicaragua passed a law which prevented future presidential candidates from calling for sanctions against the Central American country.
The so-called “Law for the Defense of the Rights of the People to Independence, Sovereignty and Self-Determination for Peace” was urgently submitted by the Executive and approved with 70 votes in favor and 14 against.
The law establishes that “Nicaraguans who lead or finance a coup d’état, who alter the constitutional order, who promote or incite terrorist acts that undermine independence, sovereignty, self-determination or who incite foreign interference in internal affairs, will not be eligible for elected office.”
Those who the government considers to be “praising or applauding the imposition of sanctions against the state of Nicaragua” will also not be able to aspire to public office.
Washington, Canada and the European Union have imposed more than a thousand sanctions against the administration of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, who they accuse of violating human rights and undermining democracy in the Central American country. However, studies have indicated that they have not had the expected effect.
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