Nicaragua

MANAGUA, May 16 (Xinhua): Buildings in Nicaragua swayed and some were evacuated on Thursday after a powerful earthquake and aftershocks hit the region in the Pacific, according to official reports.

According to a government report, the focus of the quake, which occurred at 10:28 a.m. local time (1628 GMT), was located 56 km west of Jiquilillo in the western region of the country at a depth of 32 km.

Rosario Murillo, vice president of Nicaragua, said that the magnitude of the earthquake was 6.3 on the Richter scale.

Medardo Mairena was sentenced to 216 years in prison for “terrorism” and six other offences related to his participation in the protests that caused the death of four police officers and a civilian, said lawyer Julio Montenegro from the non-governmental Permanent Commission for Human Rights. Pedro Mena was given 210 years for terrorism and other offences.

Montenegro described the sentences as “unprecedented” and “overly exaggerated.”

The two opposition leaders will serve only 30 years in prison, though, as that is the maximum allowed in Nicaraguan law.