MADRID, Spain.- The Cuban Ángel Rolando Castillo Sánchez, sentenced to two years in prison in May 2022 in a summary trial for demanding the release of his son, was recently released. Castillo Sánchez is the father of Rowland Castillo, one of the minors imprisoned for the popular protests of July 11, 2021 (11J) in the Toyo neighborhood of the capital, in the municipality of Diez de Octubre.
After his release, Castillo Sánchez told the independent media Cuban newspaper that he obtained conditional release on the first petition “because during the time he was imprisoned he protested and complained about the poor conditions in which all the inmates were kept.”
In addition, he denounced that the prisoners’ food portions had been reduced, that the officers diverted food and that, when it was time to enter the passes, the officers sometimes took away some of the food.
“They do constant counts that practically don’t let us rest, at 6:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 2:00 PM, 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM. In addition, the companies block us and do not let us move through the center ”, he revealed.
He also denounced that prisoners are threatened with denying them conditional release and that, in some cases, “they are being denied without having committed any fault.”
In March 2022 Rowland Castillo was condemned to 18 years of imprisonment. In May, it emerged that the Cuban regime had released several of the minors detained for the crime of “sedition” due to their participation in the 9/11 demonstrations. Among them was Rowland Castillo, who would be sent to a work camp.
Rowland’s mother, Yudinela Castro, also suffered two months in prison in February of last year, accused of the alleged crime of contempt.
