![Nicaragua court finds activists guilty of 'conspiracy'](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/83/1f/b8/Nicaragua-court-finds-activists-gui-411462.jpg)
-
Messi out for defending champ Miami as Leagues Cup begins
-
Australia bans uranium mining at Indigenous site
-
Divers attempt to reach sunken Philippine oil tanker
-
Trump accuses Harris of anti-Semitism in overblown speech
-
Coughlin clings to lead at LPGA Canadian Women's Open
-
Trump offers tech sector policy flips ahead of election
-
Spacecraft to swing by Earth, Moon on path to Jupiter
-
What's the fallout of Mexican drug lords' capture?
-
Video game makers see actors as AI 'data,' says union on strike
-
Chinese qualifier Shang to face Thompson in ATP Atlanta semis
-
'Massive attack' on French rail threatens more chaos
-
'We did it!': France breathes sigh of relief after Olympics ceremony
-
Regional concern grows as Venezuela blocks vote observers
-
Historic river parade, Dion show-stopper ignite Paris Olympics
-
Rainy Paris Olympic parade dampens many spectators' spirits
-
The one of a kind Paris opening ceremony: five memorable moments
-
Justin Timberlake seeks to dismiss DUI case
-
Warner Brothers Discovery sues NBA over Amazon rights deal
-
Kobe Bryant locker, Maradona jersey up for auction in New York
-
Historic river parade launches Paris Olympics
-
New York family of Holocaust victim reclaims Nazi-looted art
-
NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
-
Thousands evacuate season's biggest wildfire in northern California
-
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
-
Lady Gaga adds sparkle to star-studded Olympic show
-
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
-
Teams sail down Seine in rain-soaked Olympics opening ceremony
-
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
-
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
-
Mott's England future uncertain as ECB chief fails to offer support
-
Trump meets Israeli PM Netanyahu in Florida
-
S.African police say 95 Libyans detained at suspected military camp
-
Blinken set for talks with Chinese counterpart in Laos
-
Norris heads Piastri in McLaren one-two at Belgian GP practice
-
G20 seeks common ground on taxing super-rich
-
European medicines watchdog rejects new Alzheimer's drug
-
Habib, Ebden eye Alcaraz and Djokovic shocks at Olympics tennis
-
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
-
Two Sinaloa Cartel leaders face US charges after stunning capture
-
Spain train driver jailed for 2.5 years over deadly 2013 crash
-
Paris poised for Olympic opening ceremony spectacular
-
Judoka fails doping test in first case at Paris Olympics
-
Holder and Da Silva keep England at bay after West Indies collapse
-
Alpine F1 boss Bruno Famin to leave in August
-
Ethiopia declares three days of mourning after landslide tragedy
-
Brazilian dunes dotted with dazzling pools make UNESCO heritage list
-
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
-
French Rugby's Jaminet suspended 34 weeks after racist video: Federation
-
Osaka looking to turbo-charge comeback at Paris Olympics
-
Russian central bank hikes key rate to fight inflation
![Nicaragua court finds activists guilty of 'conspiracy'](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/83/1f/b8/Nicaragua-court-finds-activists-gui-411462.jpg)
Nicaragua court finds activists guilty of 'conspiracy'
A Nicaraguan court Thursday found two prominent opposition figures guilty of "conspiracy," according to a human rights organization which condemned the trial as "null and void" for taking place behind closed doors.
Former guerrilla Dora Maria Tellez and student leader Lesther Aleman were tried at El Chipote -- one of the country's most notorious prisons where dozens of activists detained in the run-up to last year's election are being held.
The trial of the Tellez -- a former leftist guerrilla who fought alongside President Daniel Ortega during Nicaragua's civil war -- and Aleman took place behind closed doors, with only a sole family member of each in attendance.
"They were found guilty of forming an association of wrongdoers undermining national integrity," the independent Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights said.
"The process was null and void because it violated the constitutional guarantees that stipulate that trials must be public and that the press must be able to attend," it added.
It was not clear what the sentence was, but a member of the opposition Blue and White National Unity party told AFP that magistrates had asked for a 15-year jail term for the 66-year-old Tellez, a historian and one of the founders of the dissident Sandinista Renovation Movement.
Student leader Aleman, 24, rose to fame after publicly calling for Ortega's resignation during a dialogue between the government and activists involved in 2018 protests.
"His only crime is to have spoken in the name of everyone in 2018, confronting Mr. Ortega with his crimes and demanding he leave office," journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro, speaking from exile in Costa Rica, said on Twitter.
Family of the dozens of activists held since last year have said the opposition figures are suffering from serious health issues, experiencing blackouts and loss of teeth.
Last month the United Nations human rights body urged Nicaragua -- Central America's poorest country -- to free people who had been arbitrarily detained and to stop prosecutions and harassment of political opponents, journalists and human rights defenders.
G.Teles--PC