A Roman Catholic bishop was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison by a Nicaraguan court on 10 February, one day after he refused to be expelled from Nicaragua as part of a group of over 200 political prisoners who were sent to the United States.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos had been under house arrest since August 2022, and was transferred to La Modelo Tipitapa prison on 9 February 2023 after refusing to leave Nicaragua, despite pressure from the government to do so.
The bishop was among a group of 12 who were forcibly confined in the Diocese of Matagalpa curia for 15 days in August 2022. He was subsequently detained along with seven others on 19 August after Nicaraguan security forces stormed the curia. On 10 January 2023 Judge Maria Gloria Saavedra Corrales ordered that the bishop should be put on trial on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information.
The seven men who were detained with Bishop Álvarez Lagos were found guilty of conspiracy against the state in a trial held on 26 January, however all were released to the United States on 9 February. Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega has since declared that all 222 of those removed to the United States are no longer Nicaraguans and have been stripped of their citizenship.
At a service on 12 February, Pope Francis expressed concern at the imprisonment of Bishop Álvarez Lagos, saying: ‘The news from Nicaragua has grieved me not a little and I cannot help but remember with concern the Bishop of Matagalpa, Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, whom I love so much and who has been sentenced to 26 years in prison, and also the people who have been taken to the United States.’
CSW’s Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘It is unconscionable that Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos has received such a draconian prison sentence on completely unfounded charges. It is clear from the timing and severity that the sentence is in direct retaliation for his decision to stay in his country. He has been targeted, like many religious leaders in Nicaragua, for refusing to stay silent in the face of corruption and rampant violations of fundamental human rights. We call for Bishop Álvarez Lagos’s immediate and unconditional release, and urge the international community to hold President Ortega and his regime to account for its continued crackdown on independent voices in the country.’