CNA Newsroom, Jan 17, 2023 / 14:30 pm
The dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua has found a Catholic priest, imprisoned since August 2022, guilty of “conspiracy” against the state.
According to the Nicaraguan media outlet 100% Noticias, Judge Nancy Aguirre of the Tenth Criminal District Trial Court of Managua found Father Oscar Benavidez Dávila guilty of the crimes of “conspiracy to undermine national security and sovereignty” and “spreading fake news.”
The prosecution is now asking for a sentence of eight years in prison for the priest, the pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in the town of Mulukukú in the Diocese of Siuna.
The accusations against the priest were made in September 2022 after he was held under arrest for 42 days in the Directorate of Judicial Assistance (DAJ) in Managua, better known as El Chipote, a prison notorious for torturing political opponents of the regime. The priest was apprehended Aug. 14, 2022, after celebrating Mass and was taken to the prison.