The Bishop of Matagalpa, Mons. Rolando Álvarez Lagos,sentenced to 26 years and 4 months imprisonment by the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua on 10 February was accused of being a “traitor to the homeland.”
The sentence against Bishop Rolando Álvarez comes just one day after the dictatorship deported 222 political prisoners to the United States.
Bishop Álvarez refused to get on the plane with the sportsmen, according to what the dictator Ortega himself explained yesterday afternoon.
In the sentence read this afternoon by Judge Héctor Ernesto Ochoa Andino, president of Criminal Chamber 1 of the Managua Court of Appeals, it is stated: “Keep the defendant Rolando José Álvarez Lagos as a traitor to the country.”
“Declare Rolando José Álvarez Lagos guilty for being the author of the crimes of impairment of national integrity, propagation of false news through information technology, obstruction of functions, aggravated disobedience or contempt of authority, all committed in real bankruptcy and to the detriment of society and the State of the Republic of Nicaragua”, continues the sentence.
Detailing each of the charges and their respective penalties, the text adds: “The defendant Rolando José Álvarez Lagos is sentenced to 15 years in prison and perpetual disqualification from exercising public office on behalf of or at the service of the State of Nicaragua.”
“The loss of the convicted person’s citizen rights is declared, which will be perpetual, all this for being the author of the crime of impairment of national integrity,” the ruling continues.
The sentence also establishes “the loss of Nicaraguan nationality to the sanctioned José Álvarez Lagos, in strict adherence to Law 1145.”
The aforementioned Law 1145, as well as a constitutional reform that allows the loss of nationality of those sentenced for “treason”, was approved by the National Assembly of Nicaragua yesterday, 9 February.
On the other hand, today’s sentence indicates: “Send the defendant Rolando José Álvarez Lagos to 5 years in prison and 800 days fines for being the author of the spread of false news through information and communication technologies.”
“The fine in days is equivalent to the amount of 56 thousand 461 córdobas with 15 cents (about 1,550 dollars).”
Lastly, the sentence condemns the “defendant Rolando José Álvarez Lagos to 5 years and 4 months in prison for being the author of aggravated obstruction of functions to the detriment of the State and the Republic of Nicaragua” and also “1 year in prison for being the author of the crime of contempt of authority.”
“The prison sentences will be served successively, so the convicted Rolando José Álvarez Lagos must serve 26 years in prison and 4 months in prison,” the condemnatory text specifies.
According to the sentence, Bishop Rolando Álvarez must be imprisoned until April 13, 2049.
Monsignor Rolando Álvarez refused yesterday afternoon to take a flight with 222 other deportees, including four priests and decided to stay to accompany the Catholics who suffer the repression of the dictatorship in Nicaragua.
In a statement issued this Friday, February 10, after the deportation of the 222 Nicaraguan political prisoners, Chris Smith, head of the Subcommittee on global health, global human rights and international organizations of the United States House of Representatives, said that “we have to continue working to combat the brutal Ortega regime and free the remaining prisoners.”
Smith highlighted precisely the example of “courageous Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who refuses to leave his flock.”
“He is truly a Christ-like figure, with a servant’s heart, and we continue to ask Pope Francis to speak unequivocally for him to call for his release,” he said.