Managua (AFP) - A Nicaraguan court on Wednesday sentenced an opposition leader to ten years in prison for organizing protests against Daniel Ortega's government in 2018, his political movement announced.

The Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy said that a court in Managua had sentenced Yobranque Suazo to five years in prison after convicting him of "conspiring to undermine the unity of the country" and an additional five years for "dissemination of false news".

Suazo, 31, is from the southern city of Masaya, which witnessed the strongest anti-government protests in 2018.

The "Civil Alliance for Justice and Democracy," one of the opposition groups that emerged from the demonstrations, said that Suazo "was prosecuted and convicted without having committed any crime and without having any connection with criminal structures."

Suazo was released in 2019 under an amnesty issued by the government for hundreds of dissidents who participated in the protests, after mediation by the Catholic Church.

In May, he was arrested again and brought to justice.

He had stated a few days ago that the police had prevented parishioners from entering a Catholic church in Masaya, whose priest, Harvey Padilla, had spoken of harassment by the police.

On this occasion, the Bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Alvarez, stressed that the government intends to "stifle the voice of the Church" against injustice.

Suazo is one of 190 dissidents detained in Nicaragua, according to human rights groups.

Among those detained - in prison or under house arrest - are seven former presidential candidates who intended to run in the November 2021 elections that led to Ortega's re-election for a fourth consecutive term.

Ortega accused the imprisoned dissidents of "financing or seeking resources and support" from the Americans to destabilize the country in 2018.

The suppression of these demonstrations led to at least 355 deaths, according to figures from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Ortega, the 76-year-old former rebel who has been in power since 2007, stated that the opponents, despite the amnesty issued in 2019, "continue to plot and bet on a new wave of terrorism" in order to "cancel" last year's elections.

The opposition trials began last February.

Since then, more than forty of them have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 13 years for conspiracy and other crimes.