'Why you should #StandAsMyWitness', July 18, 2020

María Esperanza Sánchez García is an activist against human rights abuses in Nicaragua. As the daughter of a union leader who was detained by previous governments, since massive socio-economic protests began in April 2018 she has protested for the release of political prisoners and against the Daniel Ortega government. Due to her commitment to her country’s civic movement, she was persecuted, threatened and fired from several jobs. On 26 January 2020, she was arbitrarily detained under accusations of narcotrafficking, which she vehemently deny. Before the arrest, she was in a safe house in Managua since November 2019 due to the constant sieges at her home in Matagalpa. Her family members also denounce that she was subjected to torture and ill-treatment aimed at forcing her to accept the charges... Currently she is at the women’s prison “La Esperanza”, where she suffered an asthma attack, a high blood pressure crisis and was diagnosed with bronchitis. She has been repeatedly denied medical attention and access to medications, as well as to any type of protection or security measures against the Covid-19 outbreak. Because of chronic health conditions, there is high risk that she could develop coronavirus-related complications in case of an infection...