A Nicaraguan pastor has been imprisoned in a maximum-security jail on exaggerated charges, according to the charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

Pastor Rudy Palacios Vargas is the founder of the La Roca de Nicaragua Church Association.

He is believed to be held at La Granja Maximum Security Prison in the Granada Department, along with his two sisters and their husbands. The prison is notorious for overcrowding.

A father and son who attended the church and led worship were also arrested, along with another family friend of Pastor Vargas.

On July 28, a Nicaraguan news outlet reported that Pastor Palacios Vargas, Mr. Bermudez Mojica, Jéssica Palacios Vargas, Mr. López, and Ms. Lara Rojas had been subjected to a fast-tracked virtual hearing and charged with treason and conspiracy.

CSW representative Ellis Heasley told Premier Christian News the charges were “completely unfounded” and amounted to political persecution.

Since 2018, Pastor Vargas has been an outspoken critic of the government, after condemning violence against student protesters. That July, he received threats via phone and social media and fled Nicaragua. Two days later, at least three members of his church were killed by security forces and paramilitaries. In 2019, the church was stripped of its legal status.

Pastor Vargas returned to the country in December 2020 following a cancer diagnosis. He has been under effective house arrest since then, with police closely monitoring his movements.

CSW is calling for the urgent release of Arely Palacios Vargas, Jéssica Palacios Vargas, and their husbands Pedro José López and Armando José Bermudez Mojica; Mauricio Alonso Prieto and his son; and Olga María Lara Rojas, a Protestant Christian not associated with the church.