Judge Gloria María Saavedra Corrales, of the Tenth Criminal District Court of Managua, referred the priest Oscar Danilo Benavides Dávila to trial, allegedly accused of “conspiracy to undermine” and “propagation of false news,” according to the record. of the initial hearing held on Thursday, October 6.
The case was referred to the Ortega Judge Nancy Aguirre Gudielof the Tenth Court and member of the Ortega judicial and prosecutorial machinery in charge of accusing and sentencing political prisoners held in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ), El Chipote.
With father Benavides Davila, the number of religious prosecuted rises to eight for “conspiracy” and “propagation of false news”, crimes that have been instrumentalized by the Judicial Power of the dictatorship against citizens, although they are not applicable to said cases, experts in criminal law have pointed out.
They point to Monsignor Rolando Álvarez
The private defense of the priest questioned the accusation presented by the Prosecutor’s Office, in which they mention Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, in charge of the Diocese of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Estelí, and who has been in jail since August 19, in Managua.
“The accusation does not relate facts that can support a factual theory. The accusation points to other people under investigation, which I don’t quite understand because if Monsignor Rolando Álvarez is being talked about, he would also have to be here. Otherwise, the accusation would be atypical. There is talk of videos on page three of the accusation, the opinions that my representative expressed, but it is his opinion, ”questioned the priest’s defense attorney, according to the record found in the Nicarao electronic system of the Judicial Power.
According to Father Benavides’s private defender, the Prosecutor’s Office does not determine what are the alleged conspiracies in which he was involved and how the alleged impairment was carried out. However, the Public Ministry assured that he has elements of evidence, which are testimonials, acts of investigation, expert and documentary. The judge admitted the case, but did not schedule a trial date.
Benavides was kidnapped by police officers on Sunday, August 14 at 5:50 p.m. and taken to El Chipote, almost two hours after finishing his last mass in the Immaculate Conception chapel in Mulukukú. This town is located in the far North Caribbean of Nicaragua, where the 50-year-old priest is recognized for his charisma.
He was in charge of the Holy Spirit parish, of which he had taken possession on May 25 last. Previously, he had served as a former advisor to the Youth Ministry of the Diocese of Matagalpa, according to data published on the social networks of that Catholic community in 2016.
Last June, the regime imprisoned the priest Manuel García de Nandaime, the month after Monsignor Leonardo Urbina in Boaco and later to Oscar Benavidez.
As part of the repressive escalation against the Catholic Church, the regime keeps eleven religious detained -the last one was the Father Enrique Martinez-, eight are in Chipote, one in the Granada penitentiary system, one in the Tipitapa penitentiary system and Álvarez at home in jail.
Ortegaism also expelled the apostolic nuncio, closed ten radio stations of the Diocese of Matagalpa and forced the Missionaries of Charity to leave Nicaragua.
