In response to demands for proof that Bishop Rolando Álvarez is still alive, the Nicaraguan dictatorship’s Ministry of the Interior released new images of the prelate, who was sentenced to 26 years and four months in prison in February, accused of being “a traitor to the homeland”. Source: CNA.
The measure was strongly criticised by Bishop Silvio Báez, who pointed out that the video and photos do not justify the regime’s crime.
Bishop Báez, the auxiliary bishop of Managua living in exile, wrote on X on Tuesday that the dictatorship shouldn’t think “that with their cynical language and with photos and videos of dubious authenticity they are going to justify their crime and silence us”.
“Bishop Rolando Álvarez is innocent and we will continue to shout this injustice before the world. He must be released immediately and without conditions!” he said.
Other images had been previously released by the dictatorship in March, when various activists and institutions demanded, as they have been doing recently, proof that the bishop of Matagalpa was still alive.
In a press release on Tuesday, the Ministry of the Interior stated that the video and photos show that “the conditions of [Álvarez’s] confinement are preferential and that the regimen of doctor’s appointments is strictly complied with as well as family visits, the sending and receiving of packages, contrary to what slanderous campaigns try to make you believe.”
The statement also says that the Ministry of the Interior “will continue to fulfill its duty to safely hold Rolando Álvarez in the conditions that ensure his rights in every sense”.
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Nicaraguan dictatorship releases new photos, video of imprisoned Bishop Álvarez (By Walter Sanchez Silva, CNA)
