AA
Share
The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo released political prisoner Giovanni Jaret Guido Morales on March 28, 2026, after he completed a four-year sentence, the Group of Reflection of Former Political Prisoners (GREX) confirmed.
“The visibility of his case, in a context of international pressure, yielded results (…) Today he has the opportunity to rebuild his life, which was deeply affected after four years of uninterrupted imprisonment and nearly eight years of political persecution,” GREX said.
Guido Morales completed his sentence on March 27, 2026, after being convicted in a process that, according to GREX, was riddled with irregularities and lacked “any evidence” of his involvement in the alleged acts.
Following a closed-door trial—in which, according to GREX, “his mother was never allowed to enter”—the sentence was handed down on October 5, 2022. Guido Morales had been arrested on March 27 of that year after an altercation with neighbors who claimed they had been robbed and assaulted.
Held in a punishment cell
The dictatorship has detained Guido Morales at least three times since 2018.
He was first arrested in October 2018 and “put on trial.” Although he was acquitted on December 12 of attempted murder charges due to a lack of evidence, the prison system “failed to comply with the court order,” and he was not released until June 6, 2019, GREX recalled.
“It was a completely arbitrary process,” GREX added, “as was his release. Witnesses saw him being held at El Chipote during those days.”
However, after regaining his freedom, he continued to face surveillance, harassment, and threats from the police, and was arrested a second time in January 2020. He was charged with drug trafficking and storage, sentenced to seven years in prison, and released on July 19, 2020.
During that period of detention, under precarious prison conditions—including time spent in dark cells—he “suffered an infection in the eye socket he had lost” in 2018 during the anti-government protests, due to not receiving “medical care,” GREX said in a statement.
In 2022, he was detained and convicted once again. Since August 2024, Guido Morales has been the beneficiary of precautionary measures granted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), which confirmed that he was held in “prolonged isolation.”
Political prisoners still not released
In Nicaragua, four political prisoners have completed their sentences or have release orders but remain imprisoned due to newly fabricated charges. Among them are the following prisoners of conscience listed by the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners:
- Marvin Vargas: The longest-held political prisoner. In 2012, he was sentenced to five years in prison. He should have been released, but a new conviction was fabricated to keep him imprisoned for an additional 12 years.
- Jaime Navarrete: He was a political prisoner in 2018 and released under the “Amnesty” in June 2019. Weeks later, he was re-arrested on new charges. In 2023, authorities “revived” the previous sentence to avoid releasing him.
- José Meza Raúdez: A campesino. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, linked to the “July 19 massacre” of 2014. He completed his sentence in 2024 but remains imprisoned in La Modelo prison.
- Manuel Urbina Lara: An opposition lawyer sentenced to four years in prison for negligent homicide following a traffic accident in which a man he had given a ride to died. Both he and the victim’s family attempted mediation, but the Prosecutor’s Office blocked it. He completed his sentence in January 2025 but was not released.
In Guido Morales’ case, fearing that history might repeat itself, a social media campaign was launched demanding his release.
During this most recent period of detention, he had been “beaten and searched countless times” and “stripped of all his belongings,” including food, towels, sheets, and even sleeping mats that his family had provided in prison.
