In Jail for 194 days for painting a mural of the beauty queen
The muralists were arrested in the northern Nicaraguan city of Esteli, for painting a mural to honor Sheynnis Palacios, after she was crowned Miss Universe.
HAVANA TIMES – Nicaraguan artists Kevin Laguna and Oscar Parrilla have already spent 194 days of arbitrary imprisonment under the regime of Daniel Ortega. Their crime? Painting a mural in honor of fellow Nicaraguan Sheynnis Palacios, the current Miss Universe.
The mural was begun in the city of Esteli in November 2023, shortly after Sheynnis was crowned. It was an initiative of the artists, intended to celebrate the first Nicaraguan to win the international beauty pageant. Their project was subsequently interrupted by the police, and the artists arrested under false accusations.
“They were deprived of their freedom in November 2023, for exercising their fundamental right to free expression through the creation of an artistic mural,” the Mechanism for the Recognition of Political Prisoners denounced in a statement.
Likewise, the government ordered the partially completed mural immediately painted over.
Since November, both muralists have remained behind bars, without a fair trial. The artistic community and organizations that advocate for human rights