Yubrank Suazo: a Month in Solitary Confinement in Nicaragua
“We have not been able to see him. They only allow us to pass him water, juices, sometimes yogurt, little things like that,” says Wilfredo Suazo, father of the political prisoner.
HAVANA TIMES – Political prisoner Yubrank Suazo, 32 years old, completed one month on June 18, of being locked up in the cells of the infamous El Chipote prison. The opposition leader, member of the Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy, remains in solitary confinement and has not been allowed any contact with his family during this time.
“We have not been able to see him. They only allow us to pass him water, juices, sometimes yogurt, Ensure milk, little things like that, which we hope they will give to him because they can help his nutrition. They also authorized us to deliver and remove, every eight days, some of his belongings, such as clothes, which need to be washed,” affirmed Wilfredo Suazo, father of the prisoner of conscience, in an interview with Confidencial.
He added that his son has stomach and blood pressure problems, for which reason El Chipote authorized them to take the pills and vitamins he requires, although they do not know if they are really being delivered to him.
The father explained that the only person who has been able to see Yubrank, and only for five minutes, was the lawyer Maynor Curtis, during the first hearing in which he was accused of “conspiracy to undermine” the state of Nicaragua. Managua Criminal Court judge Nalia Nadezhda Ubeda is handling the case against the prisoner of conscience.
Suazo assured that his son informed them, through Curtis, that “he is well physically, spiritually and morally, that he is a man of faith, that we should pray a lot, and that we should take care of ourselves.”
Waiting for the next round of visits
The family hopes that after the second hearing, still without a date, the authorities will allow them to see or visit Yubrank for a few minutes.
“We have the hope that in the next round of visits that the political prisoners of El Chipote have, they will allow us to see him. The lawyer thinks that perhaps after the second hearing we will have the opportunity to see him, but we do not know anything directly,” indicated the father.
He pointed out that they have previously requested to be at the hearings of the trial and that the lawyer has introduced writs, requested visits, but until now “we have not had any answer.”
Suazo was violently abducted by police agents when he was at his home, in the early morning of Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
His second arrest
In 2018, Yubrank was imprisoned for the first time by the Ortega-Murillo regime, which at the time accused him of committing acts of terrorism, attempted murder, threats with weapons and obstruction of public services. Subsequently, in June 2019, after nine months of confinement at the La Modelo prison he was released along with other political prisoners under the controversial Amnesty Law created by the Ortega regime.
Suazo recalled that those first months of imprisonment suffered by his son were “horrible” and, he stressed, now “the circumstances are still the same.”
“It is terrible to have a son imprisoned unjustly. But we are strong spiritually and the family accompaniment makes the pain subside a little. We trust in God that things be processed legally, that the light of truth and justice will prevail, that his human rights will be respected, not only for my son, for all of them, and that we will have the opportunity to see him and have him back home again.” he concluded.