Cuban artists and dissidents Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo” were sentenced to 5 and 9 years in prisonrespectively, reported this Friday the Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba (FGR).
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Otero Alcántara and Castillo Pérez were punished for the crimes of outrage against the symbols of the country, contempt and public disorder, in the first case, and contempt, attack, public disorder and defamation of institutions and organizations, heroes and martyrs in the Osorbo case, according to a note from the Prosecutor’s Office.
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The trial of both artists – considered prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International (AI) – took place on May 30 and 31 in Havana in the Court of the municipality of Marianao.
The process was not linked to last year’s anti-government protests, but to events that occurred on April 4, 2021. That day, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, Osorbo had a run-in with some agents, apparently caused because his companion was not wearing a mask.
Castillo Pérez managed to escape, with handcuffs on his wrist, and went to the house of
Otero Alcántara and shouted slogans against the Government from there.
The Prosecutor’s Office collected previous facts such as “offensive writings against the flag” on the networks, posting “memes” on Facebook to “ridicule and discredit” the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
International organizations and different European embassies tried, without success, to access the hearings.
🇨🇺 🗣️ Human Rights organizations strongly condemn the charges for alleged contempt, defamation and public disorder brought against Maykel Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara by the Cuban Prosecutor’s Office.
⬇️ Here the details: https://t.co/9IUddp8m1n pic.twitter.com/o0m2J5APEl
– ARTICLE 19 MX-CA (@article19mex) June 17, 2022
During those days a strong security operation was deployed around the court.
According to several activists broadcast on networks, Castillo Pérez ended his statement by saying to the magistrate: “I hope that the sentence that you decide, madam judge, is that of your conscience.”
Human rights organizations Human Rights Watch and AI have demanded that they be released “immediately and unconditionally.”
In addition, on June 17, a total of 17 NGOs joined the calls to release the two opponents. The Prosecutor’s Office had initially requested 7 years in prison for Otero Alcántara, leader of the San Isidro Movement (MSI) and imprisoned since July 11, and 10 years for Castillo Pérez, co-author of the song “Patria y vida” -anthem of the protests of 11J – and imprisoned for a year.
Besides them, andhe Court sentenced Juslid Justiz Lazo and Reina Sierra Duvergel to 5 years in prison for attacking opponents Félix Roque Delgado and 3 years of correctional work without internment.
In its note released this Friday, the Prosecutor’s Office reported that the court considered it proven that Otero Alcántara had “the express intention, sustained over time, of offending the national flag, by publishing photos on social networks where it is used.
in degrading acts”.
Likewise, it reasoned that Castillo Pérez “used false images” to “offend, affect the honor and dignity of the country’s highest authorities” and that “he carried out direct interventions from his personal profile to dishonor the role of law enforcement officers in the society”.
The Court’s decision is not final, so those sentenced can still file an appeal to either annul or reduce their sentences.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE
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