The trial against the religious of the Diocese of Matagalpa it was recorded as the second longest process with political overtones of the justice of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. In total there were four long hearings that culminated almost at midnight. Lawyers, human rights defenders and Nicaraguan personalities expressed their condemnation and rejection on social networks.
The Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (cenidh), the Legal Defense Unit (UDJ), the former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Arturo McFields; and the former official of the Judiciary, Yader Morazán, spoke out against the guilty verdict on the religious.
The defendants are the priests Ramiro Tijerino, José Luis Díaz and Sadiel Eugarrios; the deacon Raul Antonio Vega; the seminarians Melkin Rye Y Darvin Leiva; and the cameraman Sergio Cardenas, all close Bishop Rolando Álvarez.
«After 4 days of judicial torture, the Ortega Murillo regime handed down a guilty verdict for the crimes of impairment and propagation of false news against priests, seminarians and lay people who accompanied Monsignor Rolando Alvarez in the Episcopal Curia of Matagalpa,” he wrote in Cenidh on his Twitter account.
“There is no doubt that this request for a 10-year and 800-day fine issued by the Prosecutor’s Office for all was issued from El Carmen, with the desire to sow terror and demonstrate who has power. From Cenidh we condemn this violation of #HR and the guarantees of due process,” he added.
The UDJ, a group of lawyers that defends political prisoners, reported that the Ortega prosecutor Manuel Rugama requested a sentence of 10 years in jail and an 800-day fine for the seven prisoners, including priests, seminarians, and laymen. “Both the judge and the prosecutor have already been sanctioned (by the United States) for the violations committed,” he recalled.
For his part, the expert on the administration of justice, Yader Morazán, stated that the ruling of Ortega judge Nadia Tardencilla “was to be expected.” “The seven people who accompanied Monsignor Rolando Álvarez in the Matagalpa Episcopal Curia have been convicted of the crimes of undermining National integrity in their preparatory phase of conspiracy and propagation of false news,” explained the jurist.
Morazán said that this last trial hearing they are only found guilty and they proceed to debate the circumstances in favor or against to determine the sentence according to its minimum and maximum range. “On the one hand, the Prosecutor’s Office asks for a certain number of years and their defenses claim the opposite, always seeking the minimum sentence,” he said.
Instead, the former rebel ambassador to the Ortega Murillo dictatorship, Arturo McFields, wrote on Twitter that the regime closes the week with “cowardly and criminal trials against priests,” seminarians, and lay people from Matagalpa.
“Ortega and Murillo do not have a shred of moral authority to imprison or judge anyone. They should be in jail. Nicaragua will once again be a Republic,” said the also journalist.
The human rights defender and opposition member Haydée Castillo wrote on Twitter that the sentence against the religious is “unfair” and explains that they were imprisoned for protecting the lives of the persecuted, for denouncing injustices and for making the pulpit a platform of freedom. “It will dawn without a doubt,” she declared.
The organization assures that this trial against the religious “poses a challenge to the leaders of the Catholic Church” and they reiterated their call for them to “react” and not continue “silent.” “…practically the regime has imprisoned an entire Diocese. We invite you to side with the believing people who are outraged », he warns.
Cenidh once again demanded that the Ortega Murillo regime release Monsignor Rolando Álvarez and all the priests accused of conscience in Nicaragua.
