ROME — The government of Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega has finally brought formal charges against a bishop it has been holding since August 19, accusing him of “conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the nation” and “spreading false news.”
Nicaraguan police raided the residence of Matagalpa Bishop Rolando Álvarez at dawn on August 19, where he had already been under de facto house arrest for two weeks. The security forces took him to the capital of Managua along with four priests, two seminarians, and a layman.
The National Police, led by dictator Daniel Ortega’s brother-in-law Francisco Díaz, accused the prelate of trying to “organize violent groups,” allegedly “for the purpose of destabilizing the State of Nicaragua and attacking the constitutional authorities,” but brought forward no evidence to substantiate this claim.
A month after his arrest, a judge granted a 90-day extension of the bishop’s detention before charges would have to be brought, according to the U.N.’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In its announcement Tuesday of the opening of Álvarez’s case, the judicial authority of the Managua Criminal District Courts decreed that the bishop be held under house arrest until an initial hearing scheduled for January 10, 2023.
He is accused of “the crimes of conspiracy to commit impairment to national integrity and propagation of false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the Nicaraguan State and society.”
Álvarez has been sharply critical of President Ortega and his vice-president and wife Rosario Murillo, blaming them for the increase in repression in the country.
“They are criminalizing and terrorizing this country,” the bishop declared in 2018, referring to the Ortega regime’s use of weapons and irregular forces.
A poster featuring Bishop Rolando Alvarez and Pope Francis hangs inside the Cathedral in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, Friday, Aug. 19, 2022. Nicaraguan police on Friday raided Alvarez’s residence, detaining him and several other priests in an escalation of tensions between the Catholic Church and the government of Daniel Oretga. (AP Photo/Inti Ocon)
The Diocese of Matagalpa as well as Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes have called for the release of the detained bishop. At the same time, Pope Francis has remained conspicuously silent on the matter, to the consternation of many Nicaraguans.
Francis has limited his remarks on the matter to a single statement on August 21, noting that he was following Nicaragua’s situation “with concern and sorrow,” while also appealing for “an open and sincere dialogue” in order to attain “a respectful and peaceful co-existence” between the Church and the Ortega regime.
In March, the Ortega government expelled the papal nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, as well as 18 nuns of the Missionaries of Charity order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
It has also imprisoned seven priests, shut down nine Catholic radio stations, and pulled three Catholic channels from subscription television programming.
Catholics comprise over 58 percent of Nicaragua’s population of 6.6 million. according to the latest national census.
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