MIAMI, United States. – Cuban nurse Aroni Yanko García Valdés, Sentenced this Monday by the Municipal Court of Santa Clara to a year and a half of deprivation of liberty on charges of “aggravated contempt,” he was tried in the midst of a strong operation by State Security, according to his wife, Yunisley Suárez Rodríguez, Cuba Diary.
García Valdés, a 31-year-old father of three, was convicted for posting a meme on his Facebook profile that included images of Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, dictator Raúl Castro and Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero.
Suárez Rodríguez, who was present at the trial, described the repressive atmosphere surrounding the judicial process: “Two patrol cars were there ready to repress four women who were there, the only man was my father, who became extremely uncomfortable. The officers went into the audience,” she said.
The trial, which began at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, was marked by the presence of State Security agents and repressors from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT). “They arrived in patrol cars, cordoning off the place,” added Suárez Rodríguez. After 40 minutes of the trial beginning, “it had already been concluded for sentencing and the judges entered to deliberate.” However, the wait to learn the sentence lasted until after 2:00 p.m.
The nurse’s wife explained that her husband was convicted for allegedly “posting images on his Facebook social network that were against the morals of the leaders of the Revolution.” However, Suárez Rodríguez assured that “he was not seized from a phone or SIM card, or anything. It was only the word of a security agent, because my husband’s profile only had family photos.” She also stressed that García Valdés’ Facebook profile was private and that the visibility of his posts “was minimal.”
Suárez Rodríguez, who openly declares herself an opponent of the Cuban regime, considers that the conviction of her husband is a punishment aimed at breaking up her family. “This was the best way the regime found to punish us,” she told Cuban Diary.
Regarding the evidence presented during the trial, Suárez Rodríguez commented that he was able to briefly see the illustration that supposedly motivated the accusation. “It was a meme of Díaz-Canel with Marrero and Raúl Castro. It was their face with something pointing downwards, but there the visibility is terrible and you can’t hear anything, because they don’t even have a screen. They quickly showed it printed on a sheet of paper,” he explained.
García Valdés, who worked at the Maleza Polyclinic in Santa Clara before his arrest, was arrested on April 3 and transferred to the State Security Crimes Unit, before being sent to La Pendiente prison under a precautionary measure of provisional imprisonment.
Suárez Rodríguez has announced that he will appeal the sentence and that he has until Thursday to present his appeal.
