The third priest in Nicaragua was arrested within a week by the dictatorship. Father Jaime Iván Montesinos Sauceda was accused of “committing acts that undermine the sovereignty, independence, and self-determination of the nation.”
On 25 May, the National Police confirmed, through press release 009-2023, the arrest of Fr. Montesinos, 61, who is the third Catholic priest intervened in just one week.
“On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at 9:00 p.m., in the department of Boaco, municipality of San José de los Remates, at kilometer 104, the highway to the municipality of Esquipulas, the priest Jaime Iván was arrested. Montesinos Sauceda”, the note states.
The priest is the parish priest of the John Paul II Church in the municipality of Sébaco, in the Diocese of Matagalpa, a jurisdiction headed by Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who has been unjustly sentenced to more than 26 years in prison for the alleged crime of “treason against homeland”.
According to the press release, Fr. Montesinos “was in a suspicious attitude, drunk and in the company of a young woman, aboard a White Toyota Hilux van, double cab, license plate MT 23726, parked on the shore. of the way”.
The Nicaraguan police, who have not presented any evidence, added that they are carrying out “the pertinent investigative procedures and will refer the person investigated to the competent authorities for prosecution and determination of criminal responsibilities.”
Following the accusations, various human rights organizations and critics of the dictatorship condemned the arrest.
The Autoconvocada Nicaraguan Union, an opposition political organization, denounced that “the police at the service of the dictatorship, slander and invent to try to whitewash their misdeeds.”
“We condemn these attacks against the Catholic Church, we condemn these slanders and we demand respect for the physical integrity and the immediate release of Father Jaime, as well as that of Monsignor Rolando Álvarez and all the political hostages,” he said in a statement released on December 26.
Félix Maradiaga, former political prisoner and former presidential candidate in Nicaragua, pointed out from his Twitter account that the people of Matagalpa know the trajectory of Fr. Jaime Montesinos and know of his faithful service to the church and his dedication to the community.
“It goes without saying that everything the regime says is slander, which is part of the plan to persecute the Catholic Church. We demand his immediate release!” he exclaimed on May 26.
For his part, Arturo McFields Yescas, former Nicaraguan ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), wrote on Twitter that the arrest occurred, “in other words, for thinking differently and not submitting to the dictatorship.”