Sin categoría

Belarusian opposition journalist Igor Lednik dies in prison

Belarusian journalist and political prisoner Igor Lednik died in prison in the Mogilev region, as reported today by the Social Democratic Party of the former Soviet republic.

Lednik, whose health had deteriorated since his arrest in April 2022 according to his lawyers, had been sentenced to three years in prison for slandering the country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko.

The 64-year-old opposition figure had undergone digestive system surgery while serving his sentence in Penitentiary Number 15 and had been suffering from heart problems.

Initially, he was sentenced to just fifteen days of house arrest, but later he was sentenced to three years in prison for an article published in 2020 in which he attacked the honor and dignity of the head of state.

Lednik, whose Facebook was declared extremist, advocated for the dissolution of the Russia-Belarus Union and accused Lukashenko of turning the country into a dictatorship.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

According to the human rights organization Viasna, Lednik is the fifth Belarusian political prisoner to die in custody since May 2022.

Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Prize in Literature in 2015, warned this week in an interview about the danger faced by political prisoners in Belarus following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison.

“We have no information about Maria Kolesnikova, Viktor Babariko. We know nothing about Nikolai Statkevich. And it seems that we could find out the worst at any moment,” Alexievich told the newspaper ‘Nasha Niva.’

The author of “Voices from Chernobyl” and “War’s Unwomanly Face” recalled that the number of political prisoners in Belarus exceeds 2,000, and all of its leaders are also behind bars.

According to Alexievich, “dictators learn from each other, and Navalny’s death opened an abyss of permissiveness” for authoritarian leaders worldwide.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

“Now anything can be expected,” she opined.

Meanwhile, Lukashenko warned today in a meeting with the top brass of the Belarusian army that the opposition in exile, along with “its sponsors from foreign intelligence services,” is preparing an action plan to overthrow the government in Minsk.

“The first point of this plan (…) is to prepare a coup d’état or a violent seizure of power directly in the midst of an electoral campaign,” he said.

However, he clarified that the opposition themselves “consider this unlikely” as they “do not see real prerequisites similar to those of 2020 to destabilize the situation,” when the country was rocked by massive protests following the results of the presidential elections, deemed fraudulent by the opposition and the international community.

According to Lukashenko, the opposition will still try to “take advantage of the electoral campaign (of the upcoming parliamentary elections) as a trial and initial stage to prepare for a coup d’état during the upcoming presidential elections in 2025.”

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Sin categoría

Eight Killed in Series of Armed Attacks in Ecuador’s Manabí Province

At least eight people were killed in four separate armed attacks reported Sunday night in the cities of Manta and Montecristi, in Ecuador’s coastal province of Manabí, one of the areas hardest hit by the country’s escalating wave of criminal violence, local media reported on Monday.

The shootings occurred between 7:50 p.m. and 10:50 p.m. local time and affected several neighborhoods, as well as a family gathering, according to press reports. Police are investigating the incidents.

The first attack took place in the Los Artesanos sector of Montecristi, where a couple was shot dead in a public street.

Minutes later, in Manta’s 12 de Octubre neighborhood, a man was killed while sitting down. Police arrested a suspect at the scene and seized a 9mm magazine, authorities said.

A third incident occurred in the Bellavista area of Manta, when an armed assailant entered a home and shot a man during a family celebration. The attacker was captured by neighbors and sustained injuries.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The deadliest attack was reported at 10:50 p.m. in the Leonidas Proaño parish of Montecristi, where gunmen opened fire from two vehicles on a group of people, leaving four dead and five wounded.

According to Jaime Salgado, acting chief of the Manta Police District, officers recovered seven 7.62mm shell casings, consistent with rifle ammunition, and 14 .40-caliber casings at the scene.

With these killings, the Manta police district, a port and tourist area on Ecuador’s Pacific coast, has recorded 51 violent deaths so far in January 2026, according to official figures.

The attacks occurred amid a state of emergency declared by the government in December due to serious internal unrest in Manabí, where military operations have been intensified this month, particularly in high-conflict zones.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Sin categoría

El Salvador Launches Fourth Year of Ocean Mission to Protect Marine Ecosystems

El Salvador’s Ministry of Environment has launched the fourth consecutive year of “Ocean Mission,” a permanent strategy focused on the protection, restoration, and responsible management of marine ecosystems, linking conservation efforts from inland mountain ranges to the coastline.

During an event held at the Los Cóbanos Protected Natural Area, Environment Minister Fernando López highlighted the ecological, social, and economic value of the site, which is recognized as the country’s eighth wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

“We are in one of the most valuable natural treasures of our country, not only because of its beauty, but also due to the enormous ecological, social, and economic importance that Los Cóbanos holds for El Salvador,” López said.

The minister emphasized that this volcanic-origin ecosystem is home to coral reefs and key coastal-marine systems that serve as refuge, breeding, and feeding grounds for emblematic species such as sea turtles, cetaceans, and a wide diversity of fish.

“Protecting Los Cóbanos means protecting biodiversity, community livelihoods, the local economy, and our natural heritage,” López stated.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

He also stressed that Ocean Mission goes beyond rhetoric, focusing instead on direct action framed within the National Environmental Education Policy. “We are not here to talk about environmental education; we are here to practice it,” he said, underscoring the guiding principle of moving from paper to action.

Sin categoría

Convicted gang member challenges Guatemala’s anti-gang law, citing Human Rights Violations

A member of a criminal gang currently facing sentencing for the crime of extortion has filed a constitutional appeal before Guatemala’s Constitutional Court against the recently approved and enacted Anti-Gang Law.

The appeal, submitted by Dylan Smaily Archila García, argues that the new legislation violates his fundamental human rights and claims there were procedural irregularities during its approval process, according to local Guatemalan media.

Archila García filed the motion just hours after the law took effect. The new legislation, passed by Guatemala’s Congress, increases penalties for crimes linked to gang activity and authorizes the construction of a mega-prison, modeled after El Salvador’s Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT).

Local outlets reported that in his petition, Archila García contends that the approval of the law did not comply with constitutional requirements and requests that the Court issue a ruling to annul the legislation, effectively halting its enforcement.

The appeal further claims that the Anti-Gang Law infringes on due process rights, as it allegedly fails to guarantee a fair criminal trial in which defendants can prove their innocence, undermining legal certainty and judicial security.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

Through this legal action, the petitioner seeks to have the law suspended and ultimately struck down by the Constitutional Court, preventing it from being debated again in Congress.