Supreme Court Strips 135 Former Convicts of Their Nicaraguan Nationality

People expelled from Nicaragua arrive in Guatemala, Sept. 5, 2024. X/ @RonaldMatute

September 10, 2024 Hour: 1:23 pm

Among them are U.S.-backed right-wing activists, including members of the evangelical group ‘The Mountain Gate Ministry.’

On Monday, the Supreme Court of Justice stripped 135 individuals of their Nicaraguan nationality after they were released from prison and expelled to Guatemala on September 5.

The Nicaraguan Supreme Court announced that the First Chamber of the Managua Appeals Court issued a judicial ruling “ordering the loss of Nicaraguan nationality for 135 individuals, convicted of criminal acts that threatened the sovereignty, independence, and self-determination of the Nicaraguan people.”

The people who were stripped of their nationality also incited and promoted “violence, hatred, terrorism, and economic destabilization, disrupting peace, security, and constitutional order,” the ruling stated.

This decision was made based on the Constitution, Penal Code, the Law for the Defense of the People’s Rights to Independence, Sovereignty, and Self-determination for Peace, and the special law regulating the loss of Nicaraguan nationality.

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The judges also ordered the confiscation of all assets belonging to the convicted individuals “in order to compensate for the severe material and immaterial damages caused by their criminal activities to the population and the country; thus, ensuring effective justice for the victims of these crimes.”

“In this way, the Criminal Chamber reaffirms the constitutional legal duty to hold accountable the authors, organizers, financiers, and sponsors of these reprehensible criminal acts against our population. In this sense, the ruling represents another step toward the legacy of peace, solidarity, dignity, justice, truth, and peaceful coexistence that our people demand,” the statement concluded.

So far, Guatemala has not made public the list of individuals expelled from Nicaragua. Among the stateless individuals, however, are right-wing activists supported by Washington, including 13 members of the evangelical organization “Mountain Gate Ministry of Nicaragua.”