The judge of the Second Local Criminal Court of Granada, María José Zapata, sentenced Martha Candelaria Rivas Hernández to five years in prison, for the alleged crime of false testimony to the detriment of the administration of justice. Rivas is the alleged victim of physical violence by the priest Manuel García Rodríguez, who was imprisoned on June 2.
The alleged victim of García, pastor of the Jesús de Nazareno church in Nandaime, retracted in the Granada courts and said that it was all an “accident” and that is why he did not sign the complaint. However, the priest was found guilty, at the end of June, of the alleged crime of physical violence and psychological violence.
According to the sentence, Rivas “committed false testimony by distorting facts that he had declared as true before the Police.” She stated that she had “an intimate sentimental relationship” with the priest and that on May 30 they argued over a text message and the priest hit her. However, when questioned by the priest’s defense, she assured that she was not the priest’s partner, that they did not argue and that she did not feel attacked. In this way, she committed the crime, reads the letter.
The forensic psychiatric forensic medical opinion revealed that Rivas had acute stress of moderate intensity, and the risk factors found were “an ambivalent affective bond between the user and the alleged aggressor” —referring to the priest— and “a tendency to retract due to to the affective relationship with the alleged aggressor, family and social pressure associated with religious beliefs”.
The alleged assault occurred on May 30, when the woman visited the priest in the church, drank liquor and argued over a text message. He went to unlock the gate of the parish, she was behind her and accidentally hit her in the eye. The woman’s teenage daughter sought help in the neighborhood and some men approached and hurled insults at the priest from the street, who responded aggressively by displaying a machete.
“The defendant is distorting the circumstances to make it seem like a contingency what was clearly an event caused by conduct, which was already classified as malicious; In addition, the intention to hide facts to provoke the impunity of a person in a crime that is of public order and prosecuted ex officio is clearly manifested, ”indicates the conviction against Rivas.
condemned priest
Salvador Garcia Rodriguez He was sentenced on June 22 to two years in prison for the alleged crime of threatening five people with a knife — who arrived in alleged support of Rivas — and a fine of 14,116 cordobas or 200 days fine.
The religious was transferred to the Penitentiary System of Granada, where he will remain in prison, according to the court ruling, which sentenced him after the night of May 30, he went out to the atrium of the church with a machete in his hand in a defensive attitude against a group of villagers who yelled expletives at him like “assassin”.
On July 1, the criminal district judge specializing in violence in Granada, Ana Xochilt Fonseca, also found the priest guilty of the crimes of psychological and physical injuries against Rivas. The Prosecutor’s Office requested a sentence of two years and eight months for both causes.
Added to the capture of Father Manuel García is the arrest of Monsignor Leonardo Urbina, in charge of the parish of Perpetuo Socorro, in Boaco, detained this Wednesday morning by the Police, and in the afternoon he was presented in the Managua Courts, accused of the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl.
Prayers for imprisoned priests
The Diocese of Granada, led by Monsignor Jorge Solórzano, ruled this Thursday on the imprisonment of the two priests. They appreciated the prayers, affection and solidarity of the population in difficult times.
“Your compassion unites us in the suffering caused by the imprisonment of Fathers Manuel Salvador García and Monsignor Leonardo Urbinawith them we all place ourselves in the hands of the Lord”reads the statement.
They encouraged the priests and faithful to go ahead and asked all the parishes to carry out daily days of prayer and that they be present at the Eucharist “prayers for spiritual strength” of the imprisoned priests.
Both arrests occur in a context of greater repression by the Ortega regime against the Catholic Church, expressed through the persecution, harassment and harassment of priests and bishops.
