Nicaragua confiscates properties of 222 opposition exiles

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The government of Nicaragua has announced the confiscation of properties belonging to 222 opposition figures who were forced into exile in February after being imprisoned by the regime of President Daniel Ortega. The court system wrote in a statement Friday that the opposition figures had been declared “traitors to the homeland.” They are also being stripped of their citizenship, measures that have been criticized as violations of international norms. Those taken from prison and forced aboard a flight to the United States on Feb. 9 included seven former presidential hopefuls, lawyers, rights activists, journalists and former members of the Sandinista guerrilla movement.