The government of Nicaragua said Tuesday that the Catholic bishop Rolando Alvareza critic of the president Daniel Ortega who is serving a 26-year prison sentence, enjoys conditions “preferential” of seclusion.
Álvarez, who turned 57 on Monday, was sentenced on February 10 to 26 years and four months on charges of treason, spreading false news and contempt, among other charges, a day after he refused to leave USA along with 222 imprisoned opponents expelled from the country.
LOOK HERE: Nicaragua: Ortega government releases Bishop Rolando Álvarez, sentenced to 26 years
“The conditions of confinement are preferential and the regime of medical consultations, family visits and receiving packages is strictly complied with, contrary to what slanderous campaigns try to make us believe.“said the Ministry of the Interior (Interior) in a statement published in official media.
Two human rights rapporteurs of the UN On November 7, they asked the government of Nicaragua to put an end to thearbitrary detention“from the bishop and free him”immediately and unconditionally”.
The rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Nazila Ghaneaand the rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khanalso expressed their “deep concern” because Álvarez was in solitary confinement and “in conditions that seriously contravene the Nelson Mandela Rules”.
These rules are recommendations from the UN to treat prisoners with respect.
Some photographs and videos published this Tuesday show the bishop talking with two relatives in a small dining room furnished and decorated with plants and flowers, in others he appears in an examination or health check-up with a doctor and in others sitting in a chair seriously while looking television.
The images were published by the official portal El19 Digital and Channel 4 television.
MORE INFORMATION: IACHR Court orders Nicaragua to release Bishop Rolando Álvarez from prison
Álvarez, bishop of Matagalpa and detained since August 2022, he has preferred prison to exile and was not included among the 12 priests “processed” in Nicaragua who were released in October and sent to Rome after a government agreement with The Vaticanmaking him the only Catholic prelate still imprisoned in the country.
In July he was out of jail for a few hours, but was returned to prison after again refusing to leave the country, a diplomatic source in the country told AFP at the time. Managua.
The government stated that “will continue to fulfill its duty to protect Rolando Alvarez in conditions that ensure their rights in every sense”.
