Additional Name(s): Adela Elizabeth Espinoza Tercero

Gender: Female

Current Location: La Esperanza prison, Tipitapa, Nicaragua

Perpetrator: Nicaragua

Religion or Belief: Christian – Catholic

Reports of Torture: No

Date of Detainment: August/19/2023

Current Status: Not Released

Religious Leader: No

Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment

Reason for Persecution: Religious Association

Nature of Charges: Drug Trafficking & Illicit Drug Use Spreading Propaganda & False or Misleading Ideas, Information, or Materials Treason & Sedition

Adela Tercero

Extra Bio Info:

Adela Tercero is detained in relation to a crackdown on religious institutions.

On August 19, 2023, police detained Tercero, who was a student leader at the Jesuit Central American University (UCA) in Managua. Tercero's detention occurred amidst a crackdown on Catholic institutions in Nicaragua, including the government arbitrarily cancelling UCA's legal status and confiscating its property. 

In October 2023, it was reported that Tercero had been charged with spreading false news and undermining national integrity and had been denied access to a lawyer in the first two legal proceedings of her trial. It was subsequently reported that Tercero had also been charged with possession of marijuana.

In November 2023, Tercero was found guilty of drug trafficking and not guilty of spreading false news and undermining national integrity.

Related case: Gabriela Morales