MADRID, Spain.- On Monday morning, Cuban political prisoner Sulmira Martínez Pérez was transferred under a large operation by State Security and the Police to the Diez de Octubre Municipal People’s Court, where her trial would take place. the trial against her. However, the process was suspended again because Martínez’s lawyer, suffering from pneumonia, is hospitalized, according to Norma Pérez, the activist’s mother, in statements to Cuban Diary.
Norma Pérez explained that the suspension was made at the request of her daughter, since the judicial authorities tried to assign her a public defender in the absence of her main defense attorney. Sulmira Martínez, 22, rejected this proposal, demanding that her designated attorney represent her in court.
In the days leading up to her suspension, Martínez was transferred from the El Guatao pretrial detention center to Villa Marista, a State Security interrogation center, where she was threatened with even harsher sentences if she did not show remorse. “They told her that for the charges she faces she could receive 25 to 30 years in prison, or even the death penalty,” her mother said. Despite the pressure, Martínez reaffirmed her position and refused to regret her participation in opposition activities. “She said she does not regret anything,” added Norma Pérez.
Despite the threats, Martínez remains firm in her position. “I spoke to my daughter today and she told me that she wants the lawyer I assigned her to defend her. She is calm and not afraid. She told me that if she gets 25 or 30 years, she is still young to continue,” said her mother. The young woman also said she is “ready” to face the death penalty.
The police operation to take Sulmira Martínez to court was described by her mother as disproportionate. “They took her to court as if she were a terrorist. There was an incredible number of police patrols and State Security vehicles,” she said. According to Pérez, the large deployment alarmed the neighbours in the area, who were surprised by the scale of the operation.
The trial against Sulmira Martinez has been rescheduled on previous occasions. It was initially scheduled for August 12, and after several suspensions, the authorities had scheduled it for this Monday, September 23. The young woman was arrested in January 2023 for calling through social networks for a day of protests similar to that of July 11, 2021.
