A Havana court sentenced 15 protesters of the July 11, 2021 (11J), according to a report by the Spanish agency efe.
According to the ruling, dated January 23 and to which the press agency had access this Wednesday, the People’s Provincial Court of Havana convicted them of “sedition”, but handed down sentences that were mostly less than those requested by the Prosecutor’s Office. .
Some lessons of the Cuban 11-J. With observations by Julio César Guanche
The sentence, which is not final and therefore can still be appealed, corresponds to a trial carried out last November and which caused great media attention on the island.
Among those tried was Jonathan Torres, a young man who was 17 years old at the time of the events (the only minor in this process). The minimum criminal age in Cuba is 16.
Torres is one of the 55 people between the ages of 16 and 17 who have faced criminal proceedings for the events of 11J, according to this source, confirmed by the Cuban Attorney General’s Office.
In the case of Torres, the court sentenced him to a four-year “limitation of freedom” sentence, when the prosecution requested five. This means that she will not go to prison, but will have her movements controlled by a judge.
In the same way, there are three sanctioned with correctional work without internment and another three with internment.
Speaking to efeOrlando Ramírez, husband of Torres’s mother, described the process as a “show” and, although he considered the ruling a “victory”, added that “really (the trial against his stepson) is a mistake because he did not do anything ”.
In total, a cumulative 75 years in prison were handed down to the protesters.
The court considered as proven facts that the convicts mobilized in the Havana municipality of Arroyo Naranjo with “the purpose of generating the destabilization of the social and political order established in the Republic of Cuba.”
In addition, they were accused of throwing stones and shouting slogans against President Miguel Díaz-Canel. However, according to the brief, at least three of the defendants denied having been present during the events.
Two of the defendants’ mothers were called to testify but declined.
OFFENSE CHANGES
The trial was carried out with witnesses presented by the Prosecutor’s Office (mostly police officers) who were censured by the defenses for their hesitations and changes in the testimonies, as he was able to learn at that time. efe through a source that was inside the room.
Likewise, during the trial the accusation of “attack, public disorder, contempt and incitement to commit a crime” was changed to the crime of “sedition”.
This change, according to the same source, caused annoyance among at least two of the lawyers because this criminal offense implies “an intention to destabilize the order of the State”, in accordance with the Penal Code.
As they argued, this is not sustained because the 15 participated in a demonstration that took place far from the headquarters of the powers of the Cuban State.
Today we held an exchange with the ambassadors of the European Union countries as part of the Cuba-EU Political Dialogue Agreement. It was a sincere, open, respectful and helpful conversation. With us vice ministers and general directors of @CubaMinjus @CubaMINREX pic.twitter.com/rtCcRXPQHg
—Oscar Silvera Martínez (@OscarCubaMinjus) January 19, 2023
On one of the days of the trial, two of the lawyers criticized the proceedings against the 11J protesters, as the Spanish news agency learned at the time.
One of them said: “It is time for the country to begin to heal its wounds, it is time for the country to sit down to talk, it is time for the country to create public spaces so that all those people who do not think alike can express themselves safely and legally without being charged with a crime.”
pardons
The Cuban Minister of Justice, Óscar Silvera, held a meeting last week with ambassadors of the European Union (EU) where the pardon of protesters was even raised, according to what the Spanish agency itself learned.
So far, some 700 sentences have been handed down, taking into account the records kept by organizations such as Justicia 11J and Cubalex. Of these cases, some penalties go up to 30 years in prison for the crime of sedition.
