Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega has stepped up his persecution of the Catholic Church by arresting a 64-year-old chronically-ill priest and imprisoning him practically naked.
Police kicked in the doors of a presbytery of a church in Managua, the capital of the central American country, and dragged out Fr Enrique Martínez Gamboa.
As they bundled the priest into a waiting van, he was heard to shout: “They are taking me by force!” and: “Viva el Cristo Rey (long live Christ the King)!”
No warrant was produced and the boot-prints of the police were visible on the broken doors of the property after the raid.
Fr Martínez is the 11th priest to be arrested and taken to jail in just the last six months as President Ortega, a Marxist despot, has intensified his crackdown on the Church and independent media as part of his struggle to consolidate his hold on power.
Those also incarcerated include Bishop Rolando José Álvarez of Matagalpa, an outspoken critic of human rights abuses of the regime, and Fr Martínez, a priest of the Diocese of León, who is known to have spoke out in defence of journalists and protesters during a period of unrest in 2018. He has complained recently of being followed by security forces.
The priest was taken by police to El Chipote, a prison notorious for the ill-treatment and torture of inmates.
His family attempted to deliver sheets, clothing and medical items because Fr Martínez is a diabetic with kidney damage, who suffers from hypertension for which he takes pills every day. The items included compression stockings to prevent the formation of blood clots.
His family was turned away, however, with local sources telling a journalist from Confidencial that the priest was detained wearing nothing but his underwear in an attempt to humiliate him and to weaken his resolve.
The regime has meanwhile announced that three priests, a deacon, a seminarian and a photo-journalist – all arrested with Bishop Álvarez in August – will stand trial from December 1 in connection with crimes against the state.
It has also prevented two Nicaraguan priests from re-entering the country following a short period abroad.
Fr Guillermo Blandón, parish priest of the Church of Santa Lucía de Boaco, was refused entry at a Miami airport after returning from a trip to Israel.
The regime then denied Fr Deyvis López, parish priest of the St Gregory the Great Church, from returning to Nicaragua following a 15-day visit to the United States.
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