A Roman Catholic bishop has been sent back to a Nicaragua prison after rejecting attempts to "persuade" him to leave the country, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos was returned to the La Modelo Tipitapa prison on 5 July, according to reports in the newspaper Divergentes.
The bishop was placed under house arrest in August last year and in February this year was sentenced to 26 years and in prison after he refused to go into forced exile in the US along with 222 other political prisoners.
He was imprisoned in La Modelo and stripped of his Nicaraguan nationality and civil rights.
An order by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to release the bishop has so far been ignored by the Nicaraguan government.
On 4 July, Bishop Lagos was taken out of prison to meet with a mediator assigned by the Vatican who CSW says tried to persuade him to go to Rome.
He was returned to prison after refusing the offer, instead calling on the government to grant his unconditional release and that of five other imprisoned priests.
He is also calling upon the Nicaraguan government to unfreeze the bank accounts of Roman Catholic dioceses and halt the targeting of religious groups and leaders.
His imprisonment coincides with the reported imposition of a new levy on Roman Catholic and Protestant property across the country. Parishes are reportedly being threatened with seizure if they fail to pay the tax.
CSW's Head of Advocacy Anna Lee Stangl said: "The Nicaraguan government must comply with the Inter American Court of Human Rights order to release Bishop Rolando Álvarez Lagos. Additionally, he must have his citizenship and rights restored and be allowed to remain in his own country if that is his wish.
"We join his calls for the release of the other five Roman Catholic priests currently in prison, to unfreeze the bank accounts of all religious groups and for the government to cease its harassment of religious groups and their leaders.
"CSW urges the international community to do significantly more to hold President Ortega and his regime to account for the deteriorating situation of human rights in Nicaragua."
