MADRID, Spain.- For the fourth time, authorities at the La Bellotex women’s prison in Matanzas province have postponed for another six months the prison benefits that, according to Cuban law, are due to political prisoner Sissi Abascal.
On September 16, the director of the prison, Martha Cristina Hernández Bacallao, informed Abascal that she would not receive any benefits, with the justification that she considers her a “negative prisoner.” Annia Zamora, the activist’s mother, told Abascal that she would not receive any benefits. Marti News: “Sissi Abascal does not participate in the activities of the prison. She is a political prisoner, a Lady in Whiteand he maintains his position there. Then he will have no benefits, he will not be able to escape the strict regime, he will remain in uniform, behind bars with a padlock.”
Independent lawyers have explained that decisions on the transition to less severe regimes, as well as the possibility of early release, depend on the criteria of officials of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT). Abascal, 27, is serving a six-year prison sentence for the alleged crimes of “disrespect”, “attack” and “public disorder” after demonstrating peacefully in Matanzas during the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J).
Zamora also denounced the general situation of the 11J political prisoners, and pointed out that “most of them are in a strict regime, without any kind of benefit. In addition, they are in critical conditions; hunger is great in the prisons, they have no medicines, they are psychologically tormented.”
The conditions of hygiene, sanitation, food and medical care in Cuban prisons are alarming for all inmates, but are especially condemnable in the case of those imprisoned for political reasons. “Our political prisoners are innocent. They did not commit any crime, they went out on July 11 to peacefully demonstrate for change and to demand freedom,” Zamora added.
Earlier this monthSissi Abascal and Sayli Navarro were excluded from the group of five political prisoners who received a pass to visit their homes. This exclusion is a punishment for their activism and their links to opposition organisations, in addition to the constant denunciations and statements that both make from prison. One of their most recent acts was a fast on 11 July, in commemoration of the third anniversary of 11J.
