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Police raided journalist Cristiana Chamorro and the presidential candidate on charges of money laundering.
Nicaraguan police have searched the home of opposition leader and potential presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro, escalating the political battle ahead of this year’s election.
Brother Carlos Fernando Chamorro, director of the independent news program Confidencial, confirmed the searches on Twitter on Wednesday and said he had ordered the arrest of his sister.
Social media and local television broadcast live images of police entering and surrounding Chamorro’s house in Managua (the capital). Authorities were forced to cover the scene to expel journalists.
Nicaraguan prosecutors demanded Chamorro’s arrest for money laundering and other crimes, including making less mention of forgery, earlier this week.
The 67-year-old journalist, who is not from a political party, considers the presidential election of Daniel Ortega a serious challenge in the November presidential election, although he has not confirmed that he will run for a fourth term.
A judge in the capital city of Managua issued an arrest warrant in response to a request from the Attorney General in a statement issued by the judicial authorities.
The chief prosecutor also on Tuesday sought disqualification from holding public office in Chamorro as a result of the criminal investigation launched against him.
Chamorro has denied the allegations, calling it a “farce” that seeks to prevent him from seeking a presidency. Neither Chamorro nor his representatives were able to immediately contact Reuters news agency for comments.
“Most of them opposition he believes it is a way to try to eliminate all prominent opposition leaders before this year’s presidential election, ”Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman reported in Santiago, Chile, following a police attack.
“He would be the third president in prison,” Newman said, adding that “both opposition parties have outlawed him.”
Efforts to disable Chamorro running have been criticized by the United States, the Organization of American States (OAS) and others.
In a statement on Wednesday, the OAS said the “systematic and repeated violation of the rule of law and fundamental freedoms” is an “attack on democracy.”
Statement by the OAS General Secretariat on the request to disqualify Cristiana Chamorro from Nicaraguahttps://t.co/l8Aj7MNt1v pic.twitter.com/dUBTdFjj1g
– OAS (@OAS_official) June 2, 2021
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said on Twitter that preventing Chamorro from competing “reflects Ortega’s fear of free and fair elections.”
The head of human rights at the United Nations has accused the Attorney General’s office of making false allegations against Ortega’s criticism.
Chamorro has recently emerged as a potential union candidate who may have been able to muster a fractured opposition to defeat Ortega in the Nov. 7 vote. On Tuesday, he announced that he would request the appointment of the opposition.
She is the daughter of Violeta Chamorro, who became president of Nicaragua in the 1990 elections when Ortega was ousted from power in her first term.
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