Samantha Jiron, 23, Reaches 430 Days as a Political Prisoner
HAVANA TIMES – In the La Esperanza Women’s Penitentiary System, Cinthya Samantha Padilla Jirón, better known as Samantha Jirón, has been in prison for 430 days. At 23, she could be the youngest political prisoner held by the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo.
On March 7, Samantha was sentenced to eight years in prison for the catch-all crime of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity, to the detriment of the State of Nicaragua” and having carried out “propagation of false news.”
The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court routinely confirms the sentences, “despite all the annulments and violations of due process in the corresponding legal cases,” said the Legal Defense Unit.
As part of the “Breaking Chains, Sponsor a Political Prisoner” campaign, European Parliament Member Maite Pagazaurtundúa sponsored Samantha to be her voice using social networks.
In La Esperanza, Jiron shares a cell with human rights defender Evelyn Pinto, one of the elderly political prisoners.