Thirteen days after the regime’s Prosecutor’s Office initiated a judicial process, without specifying the charges, against three priests, a deacon, two seminarians and a cameraman who lived under siege together with Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, in the Curia of Matagalpa between last August 4 and 19, finally the Judiciary revealed that the religious were accused of alleged “conspiracy to undermine national integrity” and “propagation of false news”.
According to the electronic system of the Judiciary, the accused priests are Ramiro Tijerino Chávez, rector general of the Juan Pablo II University; José Luis Díaz Cruz, vicar of the Cathedral of Matagalpa and his predecessor Sadiel Antonio Eugarrios Cano. Deacon Raúl Antonio Vega, seminarians Darvin Leiva Mendoza and Melkin Centeno, as well as photojournalist Sergio Cadena Flores were also accused.
The regime’s prosecutors have not yet filed any accusations against the Bishop Alvarez, accused by the Police of “organizing violent groups” and “fostering hatred”, who has been under house arrest since August 19. The same day as the religious were transferred to the El Chipote police prison where they are isolated.
The accusation was presented on September 21 by prosecutor Manuel de Jesús Rugama, who has stood out in persecuting political prisoners, as has the judge in the case, Nalia Nadezdha Úbeda Obando, from the Fifth Criminal District of Managua. Also, the following day, the preliminary hearing was held, but the details remained hidden until October 4.
In that hearing, held in secret on September 22, Judge ÚbedaHe admitted the accusations against the religious, ratified the precautionary measure of preventive detention and scheduled the initial hearing for next Friday, October 7. He also assigned public defenders to each of the accused, as has happened in other cases of a political nature.
The defense of the priest Tijerino was assigned to the public defender María Verónica Nieto Guillén, the case of Father Eugarrios and the cameraman Cárdenas was handed over to the defender Ethelvina Guisselle Sobalvarro Cruz, the case of Father Díaz and the seminarian Centeno to the defender Heidi Jennifer Cárdenas Rosales, and in the case of Father Vega and the seminarian Leiva to the defender Brenda Josefina Enrique Galeano.
Prosecutor requested complex processing
According to the act of the Judiciary, after the judge Úbeda —of the court Fifth Criminal Hearing District of Managua— declared itself competent to deal with the case that occurred in Matagalpa, The prosecutor Rugama requested that errors in the accusation be corrected and that a complex procedure be declared, because the police are supposedly continuing to investigate.
The Public Ministry requests “the complex processing of the case be declared since the accused crimes are serious and related to organized crime, which is why the National Police continues to carry out investigative acts with the aim of identifying all illicit activities and all members of the criminal organization, in addition, the conclusion of the social network report is awaited, ”says the record of the hearing.
Public defenders, for their part, opposed the admission of the accusation alleging lack of specification, clarity and precision of the imputed facts and the participation of their represented in them. In addition, they requested the change of the precautionary measure of preventive detention.
However, Judge Úbeda rejected the Ombudsman’s requests and agreed to the Prosecutor’s requests.