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WORLD NEWS Saturday 5 March 2022
Argentine bishop defended by pope sentenced in abuse case

By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA Zanchetta had flown back
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina to his home country from
(AP) — An Argentine court Rome to face the charges.
on Friday sentenced a Ro- He has denied the charges
man Catholic bishop to 4 and said he is victim of re-
1/2 years in prison for sexual venge by priests in Oran
abuse of two former semi- with whom he had differ-
narians in a major blow to ences.
Pope Francis, who had de- The pope had ordered a
fended Gustavo Zanchetta church trial into the case,
following initial allegations. though the results of that
The prosecutors' office in are not known.
the northern province of Anne Barrett Doyle, co-
Salta reported the convic- director of BishopAc-
tion and sentence on its counability.org, which
Twitter account and said tracks clerical abuse cases,
he had been ordered ar- issued a statement say-
rested. ing the ruling is "a sign that
The conviction in the pope's even where the Catholic
homeland hits at Francis' Church wields power, civil
personal credibility since he societies increasingly will
had initially rejected accu- not tolerate sexual abuse
sations against Zanchetta, of young adults by power-
the former bishop of Oran, Argentine Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, left, stands with his lawyer Enzo Gianotti after he was con- ful figures -- even if the ac-
and created a job for him victed and sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for continued sexual abuse of two former seminar- cused is a Catholic bishop,
at the Vatican that got him ians in Oran, Argentina, Friday, March 4, 2022. and even if that bishop is
out of Argentina. Associated Press supported by Pope Francis
Francis has defended his himself."
handling of the case, in- assets, saying Zanchetta Local authorities began to op in 2016, accusing him of While allegations against
sisting that Zanchetta "de- had been prescribed psy- investigate after the allega- authoritarianism, financial Zanchetta emerged "in or
fended himself well" when chological retreats each tions emerged publicly in mismanagement and sexu- around 2015, Pope Fran-
confronted with the first al- month in Spain and it didn't early 2019, when the news- al abuse at the Saint John cis has signaled continued
legations that he had por- make sense for him to re- paper El Tribuno de Salta XXIII Seminary. support for the bishop and
nographic images of the turn to Argentina between reported complaints about Prosecutor María Soledad an unwillingness to believe
victims on his cellphone. each session. Zanchetta's conduct as Filtrín Cuezzo told the court the victims," she said. "Most
Francis also defended the Following the verdict, the bishop in Oran, about 1,600 on Thursday that investiga- troubling, the pope refused
decision to give him a job bishop, wearing a pan- kilometers (900 miles) north- tors had established the to cooperate with prosecu-
in one of the most sensi- demic facemask, was re- west of Buenos Aires. truthfulness of witnesses tors' request for information.
tive Vatican offices, the moved from the court in a Five priests made a formal against the bishop, citing This is old-school clerical-
treasury that manages the car, though it was not clear accusation before church their internal logic, context ism, not the accountability
Holy See's investments and where he was taken. authorities against the bish- and precise details. we were promised."q

Nicaragua tries, sentences more opposition leaders

MEXICO CITY (AP) — One- in a wave of detentions sentenced several opposi-
time Nicaragua presi- against opposition leaders, tion leaders, including for-
dential aspirant Cristiana including seven potential mer high-level Sandinistas
Chamorro and one of her presidential candidates, to and former presidential
brothers were among five clear the way from Presi- contenders, to prison terms
people formally placed on dent Daniel Ortega's re- for "conspiracy to under-
trial Thursday. election to a fourth con- mine national integrity."
Chamorro, 68, has been secutive term in office Nov. Former presidential con-
under house arrest since 7. tender Félix Maradiaga
June 2. She was taken un- Chamorro has maintained and Juan Sebastián Cham-
der heavy guard to the no- her innocence. She is the orro both were sentenced
torious El Chipote prison in daughter of former Presi- to 13 years in prison. The
the capital, according to dent Violeta Barrios de Central American country's
the Nicaraguan Center for Chamorro, who governed former ambassador to the
Human Rights. from 1990 to 1997. United States, Arturo Cruz Cristiana Chamorro, former director of the Violeta Barrios de
Chamorro, her brother Pe- Ortega's government has Sequeira, was sentenced Chamorro Foundation for Reconciliation and Democracy, and
dro Joaquín Chamorro and moved against a num- to 9 years. daughter of a former president, arrives at the public Ministry
three former employees ber of nongovernmental Former Deputy Foreign Af- where she was called for a meeting to explain alleged "incon-
sistencies" in financial reports filed with the government be-
of the Violeta Barrios de organizations it views as fairs Minister José Pallais, tween 2015 and 2019 in Managua, Nicaragua, May 21, 2021.
Chamorro Foundation will opposition. The president 68, was also sentenced to Associated Press
be tried for money laun- has claimed that organi- 13 years, as was business
dering and other alleged zations receiving funding leader José Adán Aguerri. conditions at El Chipote Hugo Torres, a former San-
crimes. The foundation pro- from abroad were part of Opposition activists Violeta prison and the age of some dinista guerrilla leader who
vided money for training a broader conspiracy to Granera and opposition of the opposition leaders, once led a raid that helped
journalists and defending remove him from office in leader Tamara Dávila got relatives fear the terms may free then rebel Ortega from
freedom of expression. 2018. sentences of 8 years. effectively be death sen- prison, died while awaiting
She was one of the first Nicaraguan judges also Given the notoriously bad tences. trial. He was 73.q