Nicaragua judge sets trial for opposition activists

MANAGUA, Nicaragua – A judge says 16 opposition activists will face trial on weapons charges after taking water to women participating in a hunger strike at a church in Nicaragua.

Judge Adalberto Zeledón on Sunday approved the charges of illegally transporting arms and set trial for Jan. 30.

The suspects include Belgian-Nicaraguan student leader Amaya Coppens, who also was arrested last year and freed in an amnesty.

The suspects deny carrying weapons, saying they merely took water to the people at a church in the city of Masaya who were staging a hunger strike for release of political prisoners. Police said they found weapons.

The independent Nicaraguan Human Rights Center said denounced the ruling as a “tainted process” and said the only thing the suspects did “was to show solidarity.”