What follows is a statement from family of Suyen on her abduction released by the UNAMOS party (formerly MRS). Suyen is the current president of UNAMOS.
Information on the capture of Suyen Barahona
The arbitrary raid and capture of Suyen Barahona on June 13, 2021 happened with a disproportionate police operative that included 8 pickup trucks with approximately 20 people in each one.
The capture happened after days of having the house under siege day and night and after minutes before having flown a drone over the property.
The mother of Suyen described the events “as if they were entering a war zone”, the police arrived heavily armed with dogs and surrounded the entire property.
In carrying out the raid they broke down the front gate, leaving it completely damaged, destroyed and carried away a security camera which was on the property.
Suyen came out of the house and said “What is going on? Here I am.” After putting Suyen in one of the patrol vehicles and taking her away, they remained for more than 6 hours, until approximately 5:50pm. The police remained searching the house without any type of a judicial order and took away some articles.
We denounce the disproportionate way with which they barged in, particularly when they knew that in the house was Suyen´s 4 year old son.
Likewise, we denounce that this arrest is completely arbitrary and illegal, because no crime exists and is based on laws specifically designed to block democratic participation and try to justify the persecution of people opposed to the government.
We demand respect for the physical integrity and life of Suyen and all the people arbitrarily arrested.
Up to now we have not been able to see Suyen and nor has she had access to her lawyer, which is a clear violation of her rights.
Source: relatives of Suyen Barhona