MIAMI, United States. – The Valle Grande prisonlocated in western Havana, continues to be the target of criticism from many inmates, including protesters from the anti-government protests on July 11 and 12, 2021 (11J).
One of the complainants is José Eduardo Jardines Rodríguez, sentenced to seven years in prison for his participation in the popular uprising last summer.
Jardines Rodríguez, 39, is a carpenter and lives in the El Palenque neighborhood, in the municipality of La Lisa. He points out that he was arrested on July 15, 2021 while he was at his wife’s home in Marianao. According to his account, the repressors entered the house by force through the patio and also pushed and beat him to get him into the patrol car.
After being arrested, he was taken to the San Agustín Police Unit. He was then transferred to the 5th Beach Police Unit, where he was kept for two weeks until, finally, he was locked up in the Valle Grande prison.
The trial against Jardines Rodríguez was held on April 18 of this year in the Popular Municipal Court of Diez de Octubre. The prosecutor’s request against him was 15 years in prison for the alleged crimes of public disorder, contempt, attack and criminal association. Finally, he received a joint sentence of seven years in prison for public disorder, contempt and assault.
Both Jardines Rodríguez and the political prisoner Walfrido Rodríguez Piloto staged a hunger strike in mid-May to protest the excessive and undeserved sentences received in retaliation for their participation in the popular outburst of 11J.
Both inmates have denounced the precarious conditions of the prison, the poor quality of the food, the lack of hygiene and the lack of medical care.
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