A court ruled at a hearing on January 10 that a Nicaraguan bishop, detained since August, will be tried on charges of spreading false information and conspiracy.
Newsroom (12/01/2023 9:59 AM, Gaudium Press) — Bishop Rolando Álvarez de Matagalpa, who has been accused of “conspiracy to undermine national integrity” and “spread of false news,” appeared dressed in a white shirt and looked haggard, according to a photo shared by the court of Managua, the country’s capital. A press release released by the press office of the Managua central judicial complex indicated that on that day, “the initial hearing of the criminal process was held where Rolando José Álvarez appeared Lagos in his capacity as accused.”
Bishop Álvarez has openly criticized the Nicaraguan government and was forcibly placed under house arrest in August, an act widely criticized by human rights defenders worldwide.
“This process is no longer even remotely legal and sometimes even puts you in a defending mode,” Yader Morazán, an exiled Nicaraguan said.
Bishop Álvarez was not allowed to choose his own lawyer. The public defender, Morazán said, has a history of poor representation of priests and ties to the regime. The judge of the case, Gloria Saavedra, was appointed in 2019.
“He has been prosecuted by a clandestine hearing without even being able to be accompanied by his relatives, with an imposed lawyer and under a judge appointed specifically for such roles”, Morazán added.
The bishop was charged on December 13, almost four months after being detained without due process. A public defender was assigned to him, his trial date was indicated, and he was ordered to remain under house arrest.
The preliminary hearing was just his second appearance outside of house arrest, in which he has been held incommunicado since his arrest in August.
“The judicial authority reviewed the precautionary measures decreed in the preliminary hearing, maintaining house arrest, also admitted the exchange of evidence information and referred the case to trial,” said a brief statement from the Managua court.
In a statement of December 16, Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, Chairman of the International Justice and Peace Committee of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops., condemned the charges and called on the United States government and the international community to “seek the immediate release of Bishop Álvarez, the restoration of religious freedom and human rights guarantees, and begin a process of restoration of democratic order and the rule of law in Nicaragua”.
The government of President Daniel Ortega has also arrested other priests, seminarians, and laity. His repression against the Church also included “profanations of sacred images and even desecrations of the Blessed Sacrament”, said Bishop Malloy, chairman of the international policy committee of the US bishops.
“Since the bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters in 2018 … the regime and its allies have been implementing a policy of aggression and physical intimidation, severe and systematic rhetoric and institutional against the Catholic Church in Nicaragua“, he said in the December statement.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from OSV
