MIAMI, United States. – Cuban political prisoner Sulmira Martinez will be tried on August 12 in a Havana court for the alleged crime of “contempt.” According to the a Facebook post According to journalist Mónica Baró, who was close to the family, the news was communicated to the young woman’s mother, Norma Pérez, by the authorities.
In other post from FacebookBaró said that the young woman will be tried in the Municipal Court of Diez de Octubre. “Only her mother will be able to attend. The lawyer has informed that the process will also be recorded,” he explained.
Martínez was arrested on January 10, 2023 for calling for protests on social media. Since then, the island’s regime had kept her detained without announcing the date of her trial.
Initially, the 21-year-old was held in Villa Marista, the headquarters of the Cuban regime’s State Security. During her stay in that military unit and prison, Martínez was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment, according to complaints from her family. She was later transferred to the El Guatao women’s prison, where she remains to this day.
It was not until last June that it became known that prosecutor Edward Roberts Campbell requested a joint sentence of 10 years of imprisonment for Martínez for the alleged crimes of “disrespect” and “acts against the constitutional order.” These charges, according to his family and human rights defenders, are a reprisal for his activism and his call for protests.
“There has never been justice for Sulmira and there will be no justice for her on August 12, in a system without separation of powers, where the courts answer to State Security,” Baró wrote.
On January 10, 2023, the young Cuban woman posted a call for organization and protest on Facebook, inciting a new demonstration similar to that of July 11, 2021 (11J). Her message read: “We need organization… Spread the word! We are planning another July 11” and “For those who say that those who push don’t hit each other: I am planning a demonstration, it is for the street, not behind a screen.” That same day, State Security agents broke into her home and arrested her.
In June 2023, Norma Pérez, Sulmira’s mother, denounced publicly that her daughter was depressed in prison due to the hostile treatment she received from the authorities and feared that her situation could lead her to attempt suicide.
Lawyer Giselle Morfi, from the Cubalex Legal Information Center, has pointed out the multiple rights violations in the young woman’s case, including arbitrary detention, lack of a fair trial, violation of privacy and torture.
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