The 100% Noticias building is seen in Managua on December 22, 2018, one day after it was raided and closed by the Nicaraguan police. Two journalists from the broadcaster remain in detention. (Maynor Valenzuela/AFP)
The 100% Noticias building is seen in Managua on December 22, 2018, one day after it was raided and closed by the Nicaraguan police. Two journalists from the broadcaster remain in detention. (Maynor Valenzuela/AFP)

CPJ, RSF call on Nicaragua to release two journalists held on terrorism charges

The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders today condemned the detention of two independent journalists in Nicaragua, and called on Nicaraguan authorities to immediately release them and drop all charges against them.

Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda Ubau, journalists for the independent cable and digital channel 100% Noticias, have been held in pre-trial detention on charges of “inciting violence and hate” and “promoting terrorism” since their arrests during a police raid on their Managua newsroom on December 21, 2018, as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders have reported.

“The ongoing detention and baseless charges against Miguel Mora and Lucía Pineda are the clearest sign of the stark deterioration of press freedom conditions within Nicaragua,” said CPJ South and Central America Program Coordinator Natalie Southwick. “Mora and Pineda have now spent two months behind bars, showing just how far the Nicaraguan government is willing to go to silence critical reporting. Nicaraguan authorities should immediately let them return home to their families and stop the transparent attempts to criminalize journalism.”

Read the full statement here.