Nicaraguan Police Raid Independent News Station, Arrest Two Journalists

Riot police walk in front of the 100% Noticias cable and internet news station in Managua on December 22, 2018, a day after the station was raided and closed by the Nicaraguan police. Two journalists were arrested during the raid. [Photo: AFP/Maynor Valenzuela]

Nicaraguan police last night entered the offices of 100% Noticias, a privately owned cable and internet news station in Managua, ordered the station off the air, and arrested the channel's director Miguel Mora and news director Lucía Pineda Ubau, according to news reports. In a court appearance this morning, authorities charged Mora with crimes including "inciting hate and violence" and did not grant him access to a lawyer, according to reports.

"The raid on 100% Noticias is an unacceptable escalation of the Nicaraguan government's crackdown on the country's independent media," said CPJ South and Central America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick. "Nicaraguan authorities should immediately release the detained journalists, allow the channel to resume broadcasting, and end this desperate campaign to silence crucial voices."

Police also confiscated broadcasting equipment from the station, Verónica Chávez, a 100% Noticias journalist and Mora's wife, said in a press conference today.

Read more, from the Committee to Protect Journalists, at the link below.