Nicaragua: Nicaragua has released a dozen Catholic priests who were imprisoned on various charges and sent them to Rome after negotiations with the Vatican.
A statement from the Nicaraguan government said the 12 were “flown to Rome in the afternoon, following fruitful conversations” with Catholic leaders in Nicaragua and the Vatican. The statement noted that the deal showed “the permanent will and commitment to find solutions.”
President Mr. Daniel Ortega, a leftist leader who came to power in 2006, has been suppressing opposition due to mass protests triggered by social security cuts. Mr. Ortega accused the church of aiding the protests, which he considered an attempted coup, intensifying his crackdown on Catholic clergy. Additionally, Nicaraguan clergy have also reported government surveillance of services and assaults.
In February, Bishop Rolando Alvarez, who criticised the 2018 crackdown and was ultimately arrested during a pre-dawn church raid in 2022 for allegedly “organising violent groups”, was sentenced to 26 years in prison on treason charges. Bishop Alvarez was not included in the 12 priests flown to Rome.
Mr. Ortega, who has been in and out of power since 1979, is widely criticised for dismantling Nicaragua’s fragile democracy.
In September, the United Nations-appointed Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua revealed widespread human rights violations in the previous six months, citing the erosion of academic freedom and the closure of universities. The UN panel remarked that 27 private institutions have had their legal status revoked in recent years.
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