Church and rights advocates condemn detention of Ronaldo Alvarez, who police say is beneath home arrest in Managua.
Nicaraguan authorities have positioned a Roman Catholic bishop essential of President Daniel Ortega beneath home arrest, after a pre-dawn police raid on Ronaldo Alvarez’s residence drew condemnation from the church, rights teams and worldwide observers.
Alvarez, the top of the northern diocese of Matagalpa, had been beneath home arrest in a church home in Matagalpa for 2 weeks together with 5 clergymen, one seminarian and a cameraman for a non secular tv channel.
“#SOS #Urgente. At the moment the Nationwide Police have entered the Episcopal rectory of our Matagalpa diocese,” the diocese had posted on social media early on Friday because the raid in Matagalpa was underway.
Police later stated that they had taken Alvarez to the capital Managua, the place he stays beneath home arrest, whereas the cameraman and clerics had been transferred to a jail within the metropolis.
Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes stated he had visited Alvarez in his household residence at an unspecified time, and that his spirit was intact although his “bodily situation had deteriorated”.
The raid was slammed by public figures and spiritual teams, whereas a spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary Normal Antonio Guterres stated he was very frightened. Pope Francis has not commented on the crackdown.
The pre-dawn raid got here after Nicaraguan authorities accused the bishop of “organising violent teams” and inciting them “to hold out acts of hate towards the inhabitants”.
Pablo Cuevas, a lawyer with the non-governmental Everlasting Committee on Human Rights, condemned Alvarez’s detention however stated it was not sudden. “What was clearly going to occur has occurred, the arbitrary and abusive arrest of Monsignor Alvarez,” he stated in a video message.
The Nicaraguan authorities have detained at the least three clergymen in current months whereas others have gone into exile amid a sweeping authorities crackdown on Ortega’s critics within the months main as much as and following elections final November.
Dozens of opposition figures, together with a number of who sought to problem Ortega’s re-election bid, had been detained, and lots of have since been sentenced to prolonged jail phrases.
The connection between the Catholic Church and the federal government has been severely strained after a harsh crackdown on anti-Ortega protests in 2018.
The motion towards Alvarez, 55, began with riot police stopping him from leaving residence to say mass earlier this month, and days later the bishop introduced he was successfully beneath “home arrest”.
Ortega, Nicaragua’s longtime chief, received a fourth consecutive time period in workplace after a November 2021 vote that the USA, European Union and different worldwide observers denounced as a “sham”.
Days earlier than the elections, Ortega accused Nicaraguan bishops of getting drafted a political proposal in 2018 on behalf “of the terrorists, on the service of the Yankees … These bishops are additionally terrorists”.
In March, Nicaragua expelled the papal nuncio, the Vatican’s prime diplomat in Nicaragua.
“With a coronary heart stuffed with ache and indignation, I condemn the nighttime kidnapping of Monsignor Alvarez,” exiled Nicaraguan Bishop Silvio Baez stated in a tweet on Friday concerning the police raid.
The top of the Group of American States, Luis Almagro, additionally condemned the detentions in an announcement and demanded “their speedy freedom and people of all political prisoners”.
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