12 de octubre 2024
The family of Carmen María Sáenz Martínez – a lawyer from Matagalpa, devout Catholic, mother of two daughters, and political prisoner of the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua – has spent two months this Thursday, October 10, without any news of her.
Carmen Saenz was apprehended at her home early in the morning by police officers who did not provide any explanations to her or her family and took her to an unknown destination.
Her detention took place on August 10, 2024, following a ten-day onslaught in which nine priests were abducted. Although the priests were subsequently banished to the Vatican, and 135 other political prisoners were released and banished to Guatemala on September 5th, Saenz was not among them.
Since that time, the family has been on an endless journey from one Matagalpa police station to another, trying to find her. They urgently need to learn where she is being held in order to advocate for her freedom, find out what she was accused of, and – if the government won’t release her – at least bring her food and personal hygiene products. However, it’s all been fruitless.
Civil attorney and specialist in Catholic Canon law
Carmen Saenz is a lawyer in Matagalpa who for many years coordinated the Judicial Office Management Model for the Matagalpa branch of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court, a state agency where she worked from 2002 until 2018, when she ceased performing these duties.
She began to dedicate more time to collaborating with the Catholic Church, the religion she’s held all her life. She brought her professional capacities to the particular area of marriage annulment. “She was specialized in Canon law, and gave talks on marriage annulment to couples at risk of divorce. She did this work as a volunteer,” stated a source, who recognized the value of the assistance she offered.
Her arrest seems to be part of the offensive against the diocese of Matagalpa, headed by Monsignor Rolando Álvarez, which also led to the closure of Catholic media outlets.
After two months of searching, her close family members plead for an end to the uncertainty – that they release her, or at least that they be allowed to see her.
“What that family is going through is a nightmare. It’s torture for all of them. Every day that goes by is anguish, because they don’t know how she is: if she’s eating, or not eating; how she’s sleeping, if she’s sleeping well or badly,” stated the source, who also recalled the hope they felt the day they learned that the Ortega regime had loaded a group of 135 political prisoners onto an airplane and banished them to Guatemala.
“When they heard the news, they rejoiced, thinking that she was going there. By that time, Carmen had already been missing for 25 days, and they had hopes of her release. But when a lot of time passed and she didn’t contact them, they realized she hadn’t been part of the group, and the anxiety came back,” one of the sources described.
This article was published in Spanish in Confidencial and translated by Havana Times. To get the most relevant news from our English coverage delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to The Dispatch.