The dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo resumed the kidnapping of Catholic priests with the arbitrary capture of the priest of the Diocese of Jinotega, Asdrubal Zeledonwho until now is missing, since no one gives an account of him.
The lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina, who documents the persecution perpetrated by the dictatorship against religion in Nicaragua, reported, this Thursday, September 26, through her social networks that the priest Zeledón was kidnapped since Wednesday, that is, a day before, by the Police at the service of the regime and until now his whereabouts and the reasons for his capture are unknown.
«Sandinista police kidnap priest Asdrubal Zeledonof the Diocese of Jinotega. His whereabouts are unknown and there is no formal accusation against him,” denounces the researcher from exile, through her X account.
Alleged investigation
Molina, consulted by Article 66pointed out that, according to confirmation he received from several sources linked to the Catholic Church, including three priests, at the time of the capture, the Sandinista Police said that Father Zeledón was being required for “an investigation,” without specifying the subject of the supposed investigation they carry out.
According to the lawyer, her sources have warned her that the kidnapping of Father Zeledón could be related to a public complaint and to the Police that she made about a robbery committed last year at the Nuestra Señor de Esquipulas Sanctuary, in Jinotega.
The theft to which they refer, the researcher recalls, occurred in June 2023. At that time, Father Zeledón denounced the sacrilege through the Sanctuary’s Facebook account.
Related news: Ortega exiled more than 240 priests, bishops, seminarians and nuns since 2018
«In my capacity as rector of the Nuestra Señor de Esquipulas Sanctuary, I inform the parishioner of the following: today (June 7, 2023) the sacristan notified me that a person had entered the sacristy, it can be seen structural damage, window and lock struggle,” the religious said then.
The priest’s public complaint detailed that during the assault, money and a Yamaha piano, among other things, were stolen.
The thing is that now, when a priest reports to the Police a robbery in a parish, the police tell the religious that the main suspects of said robbery are the priests who reported it,” said Molina and for this reason, currently the parish priests are not reporting the assaults on Catholic temples.
Dictatorship maintains a declared war against Christianity
The dictators Ortega and Murillo maintain a declared war against religion, attacking Catholics and evangelicals. The most vicious attacks have been directed mainly against the dioceses of Matagalpa and Estelí, which have been led by Bishop Rolando Álvarez, one of the Catholic leaders who has most criticized the dictatorship and who was prosecuted and sentenced to more than 26 years of imprisonment. prison, they denationalized him and finally released him and banished him to the Vatican.
According to the most recent update of the report “Nicaragua: A persecuted Church?”prepared by researcher Molina, the hunt carried out by the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship against the Church of Nicaragua includes a total of 870 attacks against the religious institution since 2018.
Likewise, the forced exile, banishment and prohibition of entry into the country of 245 priests, nuns, seminarians, deacons and bishops has been documented, of which 46 have been imprisoned and then banished.
Likewise, the dictatorship has ordered the illegalization of hundreds of Non-Profit Organizations (NPO) linked to the Catholic and evangelical churches.
