No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsCrimeNicaragua paroles 8,000 convicts to clear prisons

Nicaragua paroles 8,000 convicts to clear prisons

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – Nicaragua has released more than 8,000 convicts to parole and sent 94 foreigners to finish sentences in their home countries since 2014, easing overcrowding in prisons, the government said Monday.

All 8,149 Nicaraguan prisoners given conditional release had been put behind bars with light sentences of five years or less, the government said in a statement.

It gave no details on the foreign convicts deported beyond the following figures: 58 sent home in 2014, 31 in 2015 and five so far this year.

The releases were approved by the Justice Ministry, national prosecutors and the police, and were part of “a humanitarian and reconciliation policy.”

Authorities did not say what the remaining prison population was in the Central American nation.

However, according to the nongovernmental Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, there were more than 10,500 Nicaraguan and foreign prisoners last year — double the capacity of the country’s penitentiaries.

Last week, the Episcopal Conference of Nicaragua criticized rights violations in Nicaragua prisons, citing abuse, long periods of incarceration without right to sentence review and overcrowding.

See: PHOTOS: Nicaragua’s Momotombo Volcano still putting on a show

Popular Articles

Costa Rica Orders Halt to Illegal Building in Protected Forest

The Osa Environmental Prosecutor’s Office has received a court order to stop a residential construction project in the Paso la Danta Biological Corridor in...

Costa Rica’s Security Crisis Threatens Tourism in Key Destinations

A report prepared by the Legislative Assembly, cited by local media outlet El Observador last week, concluded that rising insecurity in Costa Rica is...

Costa Rica Catholics Support Conclave Despite No Voting Cardinal

Black smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney this evening, signaling that the 133 cardinals in the 2025 conclave have not yet elected a...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait

Latest Articles