The trial of Luis Robles Elizastigui, the “young man with the banner,” lasted almost two hours, which took place this Thursday in the Municipal Court of Marianao, in Havana, under a strong security operation.
“This is full of policemen, and not only will Luis’ trial be held, there will also be others,” the activist’s brother told 14ymedio. Landy Fernandez Elizastigui, at around ten o’clock in the morning, minutes after Robles’s mother, Yindra Elizastigui Jardines, was called to enter the court.
In principle, a relative could pass, no matter who it was, but Fernández was not allowed to attend.
At the conclusion of the hearing, still without a sentence, Robles’ mother came out “very affected” and did not want to give a statement, but according to Fernández, she felt satisfied “with the work of the defense attorney.”
The young man served a year in jail on December 4 accused of “resistance” and “enemy propaganda” for walking along the Boulevard de San Rafael in Centro Habana with a poster calling for an end to the repression and the freedom of rapper Denis Solís , member of the San Isidro Movement and currently in exile.
His brother narrates that the prosecution, which is requesting a joint sanction of six years of deprivation of liberty, anticipated that he was not going to present witnesses and that to convict him they would only rely on the audiovisual materials available from his brother’s protest. That is, the video broadcast on social networks on the same December 4 that includes the moment of his solo demonstration.
“This is full of policemen, and not only will Luis’ trial be held, there will also be others,” said the activist’s brother, Landy Fernández Elizastigui
In those same images, it can also be seen that Robles did not offer resistance to the arrest at any time and that many of those present denounced the police abuse and supported the young man.
The trial, initially scheduled for July 16 last in the Municipal People’s Court of October 10 and suspended after the 11J demonstrations, had a new modification 24 hours in advance: it would no longer be in the Provincial Court of Havana, together to the Capitol, but in Marianao.
The Cuban priest Kenny Fernandez Delgado, who managed to demonstrate on November 15, walking through the city where he officiates, Madruga, in Mayabeque, with a flower in hand, accompanied the Robles family outside the court. In his social networks he sent “greetings and blessings for all”, especially “for Luis Robles and his family.”
During the time he has been incarcerated, in the maximum security prison of the Combinado del Este, in the capital, Robles has denounced torture and ill-treatment. Up to four times they have denied him the modification of the precautionary measure that prevents his freedom while a final conviction is missing.
The United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considers that both Robles’ arrest and imprisonment qualify as arbitrary detention.
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