Argentine judge orders arrest of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega for 'systematic violation of human rights'

The government of Daniel Ortega and his wife “is perhaps the bloodiest dictatorship that has ever existed on the continent”, believes the lawyer who filed the complaint.

An Argentine judge ordered the arrest of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo, as well as around ten collaborators, for “systematic violation of human rights” in this Central American country, declared Monday January 30 the lawyer who filed the complaint.

“Federal Judge Ariel Lijo ordered the subpoena and international arrest warrant for Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo”believes Dario Richarte. The case is based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows countries to prosecute crimes against humanity regardless of where they were committed, he explains.

The government of Daniel Ortega and his wife “is perhaps the bloodiest dictatorship that has ever existed on the continent”, considers Dario Richarte. The crimes they are accused of include “assassination, serious deprivation of liberty, forced disappearance of persons, torture, deportation or forced transfer of population and persecution of a group or community”.

The complaint was filed in August 2022 by a group of professors from the University of Buenos Aires led by Dario Richarte. An arrest warrant was also issued against “each person responsible for the state structure, police, military and paramilitary, for crimes against humanity”he added.

The complaint mentions a “criminal plan of repression” and is based on testimonies from victims who remain anonymous. The legal action “was expanded as the dictatorship committed new human rights violations”, specifies the lawyer.

In mid-December, the NGO Amnesty International estimated that “no one is safe” of “repressive model” implemented in Nicaragua by the government of President Ortega, which threatens human rights in a manner “unprecedented”.