Nicaragua: The Regime Threatens Edwin Carcache to Incriminate the Bishops
Initial hearing is held for student leader accused of “terrorism”
According to his lawyer, the young man is in cell number 300, which is narrow, dark and with little space to walk
By Maynor Salazar (Confidencial)
HAVANA TIMES – University leader Edwin Carcache Davile prayed an Our Father and a Hail Mary. The cameras of the official media outlets focused on him all the time. Although guarded by several officers armed with AK47, he was not intimidated, and neither were the rest of the accused in the courtroom. They sang the National Anthem and at the end Carcache cried out a “be strong Nicaragua.”
According to his lawyer Julio Montenegro, Carcahe is in cell number 300, which is narrow, dark, and with little space to walk. The student leader suffers of severe bone pain and has fungal problems, as do many of the prisoners.
The defense lawyer explained that during interrogations, the authorities insisted that he incriminate the bishops of the Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference for several crimes that he did not specify.
“He told me that among all the situations he has lived, a guard in the “La Modelo” (Model) prison, told him: “it is a pity that they want you alive, otherwise I would have shot you in the head.” “This is worrisome,” stated Montenegro.
The lawyer said that when he spoke with his client, he mentioned that it was unjust to be accused of crimes he has never committed. Montenegro stated that the student leader cried several times while he was with him and his family.
“They just pull them out for pictures taking and then put them back in,” said Carcache Davila to Montenegro in reference to the “evidence” of respect for human rights presented by the government to official media outlets. “The only thing he has received as a medication is an ointment, but no serious medical attention has been provided,” expressed the lawyer.
The student leader is accused of terrorism, aggravated robbery, facilitation of evasion and obstruction of public services. He is also blamed as an organizer of barricades in Tipitapa, Managua and Ticuantepe. Oscar Rosales Sanchez, Jefferson Padilla and the Johnathan and Carlos Lacayo brothers are included in the same accusation.
This is Edwin Carcache
During the initial hearing, held on Friday, Carcache Davila was very active. His face conveyed determination and his smile confidence. He only broke in tears when he sent a kiss to his daughter. At that moment, his voice faltered and he began to cry.
His father, Edwin Carcache Bello, noted the attitude of his son during the preliminary hearing, held last September 12th. On that occasion, Carcache Davila seemed disoriented. His look was lost. The little he said, raised the alarms in his lawyer and his relatives. “Captain, Captain, Captain. And the Captain? Can I speak to the Captain?” He asked on that occasion.
“This time there was a big change. Obviously, the solitary confinement in which he finds himself, has weakened him. Edwin is a very spontaneous person. Seeing him today, make me suspicious that Edwin (in the preliminary hearing) was drugged because he even told me that this was the first time that he was seeing the other boys that are part of the same case,” related the father of Carcache.
Montenegro denounced irregularities in the presentation of proof by the Public Ministry in the case of Carcache and reiterated that the process is one more example of the criminalization of the protest carried out by the Sandinista Government.
“It is curious because in the apparent scenario where the vehicle was overturned and burned, two officers appear inside the vehicle, but now it happens that four direct witnesses saw Edwin at the scene of the crime, all police officers,” explained Montenegro.
According to the lawyer, the police officer witnesses say that Edwin coordinated, planned and supervised the barricades in several parts of the capital, as well as the control of barricades at the “Rotonda Universitaria” (University roundabout), “Barrio Ayapal,” “Georgino Andrade,” “Villa Progreso” and “Tipitapa.” These are the same places where supposedly Kevin Rodrigo Espinoza Rodriguez, Marlon Jose Fonseca, Ramon and Hansel Manuel Vasquez Ruiz, not mentioned in the case against Carcache, were in control.
“I do not understand how, in two different processes, these people who are being accused with the same responsibility of coordinating and supervising the groups involved in maintaining the same barricades. This gives us an idea that these witnesses are incoherent with the reality of the events presented.”
Montenegro called on the family of the young man Oscar Danilo Rosales, who while in prison, tried to hurt himself. The lawyer indicated that this political prisoner requests the presence of Reina Rosales Sanchez, Faustina Rosales and Pedro Rosales, as well as his wife, Daniela Garcia.
The lawyer made reference to the failure of the Nicaraguan Government to comply with the precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to Carcache, through resolution 74-2018.
The trial of Carcache is scheduled for November 24th at ten in the morning.