Nicaragua’s communist regime this week announced the conviction of 11 pastors associated with evangelical Mountain Gateway Ministries and humanitarian organizations on dubious and unspecified charges of “money laundering,” with the defendants facing prison terms. He was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison.
Nicaragua, led by the radical Marxist Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, formally convicted the pastors on March 19, but handed down their sentences on Wednesday. The two people arrested were Pastor Walner Omie Brandon Ochoa and his wife Marisela de Fatima Mejia Ruiz. received 15 years in prison. The remaining 10 – Marcos Sergio Hernández Giron, Harry Renning Ríos Bravo, Manuel de Jesús Ríos Flores, Jose Luis Orozco Urrutia, Álvaro Daniel Escobar Caldera, Juan Carlos. Chavarria Zapata, Juan Luis Moncada, Olbín Alexis Moncada Castellano, and Cesar Facundo Bulgarín Miranda – received 12 years in prison. All were charged with “aggravated money laundering.”
According to the Nicaraguan newspaper, la prensaThe court imposed fines of $80 million for each pastor arrested (the fine is nearly $1 billion) and two lawyers who tried to help defend the Christians, Isabel Cristina Acevedo Solis and Maricarmen Solis. Espinoza Segura was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 10 years in prison. He was also fined tens of millions of dollars.
Mountain Gateway and ADF International, a faith-based legal advocacy group, denounced the entire incident as a “hoax.” ADF International is supporting Mountain Gateway’s appeal and has submitted the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, seeking measures to protect prisoners of conscience.
“ADF International urges the committee to demand that Nicaragua ensure the pastor’s right to health, life and physical integrity during his stay in prison while the hearing is ongoing,” the group said. Ta. Said in a press release Wednesday.
Nicaraguan exiles living in Costa Rica participate in the “Crossroads for Nicaragua” event at San Isidro de Coronado Church in San José on March 23, 2024. (EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP via Getty Images)
“In addition to being barred from meeting with his legal representatives and his family, the lawyer in this case was also denied access to the pastor’s case file and other relevant documents,” the group charged. “During the sham trial, the government failed to provide evidence of alleged illegal activity or the source of the ‘laundered’ illegal funds.”
The incident is the latest in a brutal and often violent campaign of repression against Christians in Christian-majority countries, and is the latest in a brutal and often violent campaign of repression against Christians in non-Orthodox Christendom. It was held in conjunction with the period when the festival was celebrated. revival.
The Sandinista regime has traditionally timed its repression against Christians to coincide with Christian holidays. The administration suddenly seized Mountain Gateway’s assets just before Christmas and arrested the pastors involved.Also in late December, Sandinista authorities arrested Catholic Bishop Isidro Mora presided over a mass where people gathered to pray for imprisoned and persecuted Catholic clergy.
A woman holds up a palm cross to receive a blessing during Palm Sunday Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua on March 24, 2024. (Oswaldo Rivas/AFP)
The Sandinistas also deployed police to silence Christians attempting to participate in traditional religious events, such as the celebration of the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe in December.
Repression is not limited to churches and faith groups.Ortega is shutdown Since massive anti-communist protests erupted in the country in 2018, fueled in part by Christian teachings, more than 3,500 nonprofit and non-governmental organizations have been established.Ortega Murillo government killed More than 300 people participated in 2018 in response to a peaceful movement against their ideology.
Mountain Gateway is an organization founded by American pastor John Britton Hancock and initially focused almost exclusively on providing humanitarian aid to Nicaraguans after natural disasters and advice and support to farmers in the country’s remote areas. was doing. Last year, Hancock began organizing large-scale evangelization events for the prayer, reflection, and community, drawing up to 200,000 people at a time.
“We saw a massive movement of God that involved hundreds of thousands of people. It had a tremendous impact on the hearts of the Nicaraguan people,” Hancock told Breitbart News in February. Ta.
At Mountain Gateway announced We are planning at least 13 evangelization campaign events in the country in 2024 and have not received any indication that we may face negative feedback or resistance from the government. However, before the event could be planned, local pastors were arrested on charges of “money laundering” and “organized crime,” and the Sandinistas attacked Hancock, two other Americans, his son Jacob Britton Hancock, and his son, Jacob Britton Hancock. filed criminal charges against his daughter-in-law. Suspect Cassandra Mae Hancock unknown.
“I think the scale and mobilization of the gospel campaign could be seen as a threat to the government,” Hancock told Breitbart News. “Again, we do not understand why they would target us when we have tried to maintain a respectful relationship and abide by their policies and laws. ”
On Wednesday, Mr. Hancock issued a statement reiterating the organization’s beliefs and confirming that Mountain Gateway will continue its campaign in defense of pastors.
“While we are certainly disappointed in the formal convictions of our colleagues and friends in Nicaragua, we remain steadfast in our hope that God is in control,” Hancock said. Said. “We will do everything in our power to secure justice for our friends in Nicaragua, and we ask you to join us in praying for their safety and speedy release.”
