The Municipal Court of Havana, in Cuba, sentenced nine more protesters of the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021 to up to 15 years in prison, in a new sentence verified by the EFE Agency this Saturday (28). The decision was published two days ago, according to the agency. This is the second sentence that condemns demonstrators for the protests published this month, informs EFE. In the previous one, 15 people were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison.
The convictions are in addition to 74 sentences imposed by the Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba (FGR, in the Spanish acronym), in June 2022, against demonstrators who participated in the pro-democracy acts of 2021. On the occasion, of the 74 defendants, 56 were sentenced to up to 18 years in prison.
The 11th of July, as it became known, was marked by the demonstration of thousands of Cubans who took to the streets to protest against the economic situation and ask for political freedom, in the biggest demonstrations for democracy in the country in decades.
new convictions
This time, the decision for the arrests names nine of those tried – all men between 35 and 39 years old – as guilty of the crime of insurrection – and links them with the “violent actions” that took place on that date in Havana.
In the popular Esquina de Toyo, in the municipality of Diez de Octubre, some of the violent incidents occurred during the demonstrations, which, for the most part, took place peacefully.
The sentence, which is subject to appeal, mentions the throwing of blunt objects and attacks against police officers.
The court further states that the defendants “expected to form a large agglomeration, following the objectives and directions of the enemies of the revolution, aiming to overthrow the socialist constitutional government”.
The defense, in turn, claimed in all cases that the crime of insurrection had not occurred.
The sentence, however, points out that the facts go far beyond the types of illegal demonstration and public disorder.
In all, the convictions add up to 81 years in prison for seven of the prisoners, and ten of “deprivation of liberty subsidized by correctional work” for the remaining two.
No access to information
Judgments on July 11 are not open and the international press cannot have access to the files.
The island’s official media outlets, in general, do not report cases in which Cuba condemns demonstrators for the July 11 protests. Diplomats and NGOs asked, without success, to accompany the hearings.
In the last year, Cuba’s Attorney General’s Office has reported formal charges against 790 people in cases linked to the demonstrations, 55 of them aged between 16 and 17 years (the minimum criminal age in the country is 16).
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