Nicaragua strips lawyers of certification in latest crackdown on dissent

The government of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has been accused of human rights abuses against critics.Nicaragua’s government has stripped masses of lawyers of their licences to practise, in what critics see as yet another attack on the country’s critics.On Friday, a United Nations expert called the government’s actions a “purge of the legal profession”, aimed at eroding the country’s final shreds of democratic checks and balances.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Nicaragua’s president says Trump ‘mentally deranged’ over war on Iranlist 2 of 3US imposes restrictions on 100 Nicaraguan officials after activist’s deathlist 3 of 3Nicaragua confirms death in custody of Indigenous leader Brooklyn Riveraend of listNicaragua’s husband-wife co-presidents, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, have led a government that has increasingly carried out an all-out crackdown on dissent.That effort intensified after mass social protests in 2018 that the government violently repressed.Since then, the government has imprisoned adversaries, religious leaders, journalists and others, forcing thousands to flee the country. It has also stripped hundreds of their Nicaraguan citizenship and possessions.Since 2018, it has also shut down more than 5,000 nongovernmental organisations, largely religious groups, but also local rotary clubs and scouting organisations.In recent days, lawyers noticed that their licences to practise law in Nicaragua were removed without explanation from the Supreme Court of Justice’s registry, according to Reed Brody, an American human rights lawyer and member of a UN panel of experts on the Central American country.Other lawyers also confirmed their certifications were revoked.There was no official notification by the government, and Nicaragua’s government did not respond to a request for comment by The Associated Press news agency.Brody said the full scope of the revocation was not immediately clear, but it “would certainly appear to be at least hundreds, if not thousands of lawyers” who were affected.