MIAMI, United States. – The Undersecretary for Latin America of the Department of State, Brian Nichols, requested the dismissal of the proceedings against the Cuban teenager Jonathan Torres Farrat, a minor at the time of the mass protests of July 11, 2021and the release of the rest of the Cuban demonstrators.
“We are concerned about the upcoming trial of Jonathan Torres Farrat, who was only 17 years old during the 9/11 protests. He faces up to eight years in prison.” Nichols tweeted on Wednesday.the same day that the trial against the young Cuban began.
His message appears accompanied by a photograph of Torres Farrat and his mother, Bárbara Farrat.
“Families should be together. The Cuban government must release Jonathan and other detained protesters,” concluded the head of relations with Latin America at the State Department.
This Wednesday, 15 protesters from the anti-government protests of July 11 and 12, 2021 (July 11) in Havana are being tried, the agency reported. EFE.
The Spanish media, which had access to the prosecutor’s requests, points out that the protesters are exposed to sentences of up to 13 years in prison for the alleged crimes of attack, public disorder, contempt and incitement to commit a crime.
The defendants are accused of having thrown stones, bottles, logs and other items at the police and for shouting slogans against the island’s regime and, in particular, against the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel.
According to the prosecutor’s petition, dated December 30, 2021, the defendants, whose ages range from 17 to 51, carried out actions “of unlimited violence.”
Specifically, Jonathan Torres Farrat faces an accusation of “public disorder” and “attack.” For him, the Prosecutor’s Office requests a sentence of eight years in prison.
According to EFE, his mother appears on the list of witnesses who will testify during the trial, which should conclude this Thursday.
The trials against the 9/11 protesters began at the end of 2021. Most of the processes concluded with firm prison sentences against the defendants.
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