Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, bishop of the Diocese of Managua, is serving 17 days of “house arrest” after Daniel Ortega’s Police kidnapped him on August 19 after assaulting the Episcopal Curia of Matagalpa, where he was for 15 days along with five priests and laity, behind a strong police and paramilitary siege.
After the police reported the religious’s arrest and assured that he is in “home shelter” under the excuse that it was to “restore normality for the citizens and families of Matagalpa”, the regime has not reported on his legal situation, much less that of the priests and laity who are detained in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), in Managua.
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After these days of “uncertainty”, Monsignor Silvio Báez expressed his concern about the situation that Álvarez is going through. “I am very concerned about the uncertain situation of my brother bishop, Msgr. Rolando Álvarez, who was illegally deprived of his liberty a month ago,” said the Auxiliary Bishop of Managua through his Twitter account.
As for a possible exile to which the Bishop of Matagalpa may be subjected by the Ortega dictatorship, the prelate stated that “Mons. Álvarez must not be forced into exile! He must be released immediately and return to his diocese!».
Detention is classified as a kidnapping
The arbitrary arrest against the also apostolic administrator of Estelí is described by human rights defenders and opponents of the dictatorship as a kidnapping for not complying with what the law establishes.
“What house arrest? For the law it is irrelevant whether the retention is made in your home, office, workplace, lover or place outside your person. It is enough that the retention is without process and against your will to talk about #Kidnapping (Art. 163 of the Penal Code),” explained lawyer Yader Morazán, a specialist in the administration of justice.
The pope is “super informed” of Álvarez’s situation
For his part, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, archbishop of Managua, told the EFE news agency that Pope Francis is “super informed” about the situation in Nicaragua, where the government of Daniel Ortega keeps Monsignor Rolando Álvarez under arrest and seven priests.
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“The pope is super informed. The Secretary of State (of the Vatican) is well informed, so I personally laugh when they say no, “said the Catholic hierarch.
The high hierarch described as “very sad” that Pope Francis is criticized because supposedly “he does not know anything, that he is uninformed” about what is happening in Nicaragua, mainly with the Catholic Church.
“That is the worst lie that sometimes some media outlets, I don’t know with (what) interests, and some personalities, with what interests, are doing that,” he reproached.
Monsignor Álvarez has been one of the most critical religious voices of the Sandinista regime. After his participation as a mediator in the failed dialogue table in 2018, the prelate has been subjected to siege, persecution and defamation, until the dictatorship kidnapped him. So far his situation is unknown.
