The Nicaraguan Justice scheduled for the 28th March the beginning of judgment to the Bishop Rolando Alvarezcharged with the crimes of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and propagate false news to the detriment of the Nicaraguan State and society, the Judiciary reported this Friday.
The judge of the second criminal trial district court of Managua, Nidia Camila Tardencillawill be in charge of the trial against the chief, who has been detained since last August 19 and is the first bishop arrested and accused since the former Sandinista guerrilla Daniel Ortega returned to power in Nicaragua in 2007.
According to the judicial file of the case, the lawyer Norvin Danilo Cruz Ponce, representing the Prosecutor’s Office, presented last Tuesday the brief for the exchange of information and evidence to Judge Tardencilla.
Meanwhile, the technical defense of Bishop Álvarez requested a copy of the document from the court.
Among the 12 witnesses who will testify against the bishop, very critical of the Ortega regimethere are three policemen, two state workers and Sandinista sympathizers, according to general data on the matter published by the Judiciary.
First Bishop Arrested and Charged in Nicaragua
On December 13, the Nicaraguan Public Ministry accused Bishop Álvarez and the exiled priest Uriel Antonio Vallejos for the crimes of conspiracy and propagation of false news.
The prelate was taken without his religious clothing to the initial hearing, held at the Managua Judicial Complex, on January 10.
Álvarez Lagos, 56, is bishop of the diocese of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of the diocese of Estelí, both in northern Nicaragua.
He was abducted at dawn on Friday, August 19, by police officers from the provincial episcopal palace along with four priests, two seminarians and a cameramanafter having been confined for 15 days.
The Nicaraguan Police, which directs Francisco Díaz, in-law of President Ortegaaccuses the high-ranking officer of trying “organize violent groups”supposedly “with the purpose of destabilizing the State of Nicaragua and attacking the constitutional authorities”, although he has not offered evidence.
Relations between the Sandinistas and the Nicaraguan Catholic Church have been marked by friction and mistrust in the last 43 years.
The Catholic community represents a 58.5% of the 6.6 million inhabitants of Nicaragua, according to the last national census.
(With information from EFE)
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