After spending almost nine months in a Nicaraguan prison, 13 pastors and attorneys associated with the Texas-based Mountain Gateway ministry were released on Thursday.
They were part of 135 unjustly detained political prisoners released on humanitarian grounds, according to a White House statement.
Mountain Gateway, located in Dripping Springs, Texas, released a statement on their website saying the release “came after months of diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Nicaraguan governments.”
The Mountain Gateway members are scheduled to arrive in Guatemala, where they will be processed as refugees.
“Mountain Gateway has been praying for the release of these 13 innocent individuals and petitioning the U.S. government, the Organization of American States, and the United Nations to intervene on their behalf,” the statement reads.
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The Nicaraguan government imprisoned 11 Mountain Gateway evangelical pastors in January. In March, they were convicted of money laundering and sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison and fined nearly $1 billion, The Christian Post reported.
The ministry listed the pastors as: Walner Omier Blandón Ochoa; Maricela de Fátima Mejía Ruiz; Marcos Sergio Hernández Jirón; Harry Lening Rios Bravo; Manuel de Jesús Ríos Flores; José Luis Orozco Urrutia; Álvaro Daniel Escobar Caldera; Juan Carlos Chavarría Zapata; Juan Luis Moncada; Orvin Alexis Moncada Castellano; and César Facundo Burgalin Miranda.
The other two individuals released are believed to be attorneys, according to published reports.
Jon Britton Hancock, Mountain Gateway founder, expressed his gratitude for the release of the 13 pastors and attorneys saying, “This is the day we have prayed and believed God for.”
“Their suffering has not been in vain. The Kingdom of God is advancing because of their persecution. Today, we cry tears of joy because our brothers and sisters are free!”
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan released a statement , “No one should be put in jail for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights of free expression, association, and practicing their religion.”
The exiled political prisoners will be sent to Guatemala where they offered the opportunity to apply for lawful ways to rebuild their lives in the United States or other countries through President Biden’s Safe Mobility Office initiative, Sullivan said.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Eric Jacobstein told media that the Nicaraguan government received nothing in exchange for the prisoners’ release and the negotiation signaled no change in U.S. policy toward the government of President Daniel Ortega.
Sheila Stogsdill is a freelance print journalist and digital reporter, primarily covering crime issues for KSN/KODE.
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