Mexico City, September 6, 2024—Nicaraguan authorities deported 135 political prisoners to Guatemala on Thursday, September 5, including journalists Víctor Ticay and Fabiola Tercero.
“Nicaragua’s release of journalists Víctor Ticay and Fabiola Tercero brings us relief, but they should never have been imprisoned, as they were simply doing their jobs as journalists,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator, in São Paulo. “Nicaragua must stop persecuting journalists and their families for their reporting and allow the media to operate without the constant threat of detention or exile.”
Authorities arrested Ticay, a reporter for privately owned TV broadcaster Canal 10, after he live-streamed a Catholic Easter celebration on April 6, 2023, following a government ban on public expressions of religion. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in August 2023 on charges of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and disseminating false news.
Tercero, an independent journalist from Managua, went missing on July 12, 2024, after police entered her home. Until her deportation to Guatemala, her whereabouts were unknown.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.