The Nicaraguan government continues the crackdown on churches and sends eleven Protestant ministers to prison. The pastors received sentences ranging from 12 to 15 years and an $80 million fine per person.

The pastors are affiliated with Mountain Gateway, a Texas-based organization. The charges against them are money laundering. They spent two months under arrest and detention without any chance of contact with lawyers or family. Their trial occurred behind closed doors, and according to the Alliance for Freedom Defense International, the authorities failed to present any evidence during the sentencing.

The government prohibited processions in the street during Holy Week for the second year in a row. Churches could hold services only inside church premises. The authorities deployed 4,000 police officers countrywide to enforce the ban.

Source: Vatican News

Photo: Wikimedia