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Managua (AFP)
Eight women imprisoned in Nicaragua during anti-government protests last year suspended their hunger strike Wednesday after two weeks, family members said.
The eight members began their action on February 27 at the start of peace talks between the government of President Daniel Ortega and the opposition alliance.
It was a protest against being used as "a currency of exchange in the process of political negotiations," said last week Frederic Coppens, the Belgian father of one prisoners.
The prisoners were among the 750 people detained for taking part in anti-government protests last year during a political crisis that left 325 dead between April and October during a brutal crackdown by the authorities .
The hunger strikers, including 24-year-old medical student Amaya Coppens, insisted that "the release of all political prisoners should be a prerequisite for the beginning of the negotiations".
On Wednesday, Coppens' mother, Tamara Zamora, said the women "are going to stop their hunger strike and will start eating a little bit".
However, Zamora said the move "is not permanent, it depends on how the negotiation unfolds".
Human rights groups have urged women to end the hunger strike to preserve their health.
Talks began last month in an attempt to find a solution to the political crisis after the government released dozens of prisoners – who have since complained to the local police harbadment press in their homes.
The peace talks have been suspended for three days against the backdrop of the opposition alliance demanding the release of other political prisoners and the holding of presidential elections from 2021 in order to return to the negotiating table .
Ortega proposed reforming the electoral system, releasing political prisoners awaiting trial and reviewing the cases of those who had already been sentenced.
? AFP 2019
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