In an audio broadcast on Facebook, the young woman stressed that her father is not a spy and announced that she will try to attend the oral hearing with her brother.
MIAMI, United States. — Laura María Gil González, daughter of the former deputy prime minister and former minister of Economy and Planning of Cuba, Alejandro Gil Fernández, reacted this Monday to the official announcement that the oral trial against his father will begin tomorrow, Tuesday, November 11, and will be restricted for “national security reasons.”
In an audio broadcast on Facebook by journalist Mario Pentón, the young woman stressed that her father is not a spy and announced that she will try to attend the hearing with her brother.
“We didn’t know [que el juicio comenzará este martes]; We don’t know if we can enter or not, obviously it is not going to be open doors,” said Gil González. The young woman also recalled that the process that begins this Tuesday is for espionage and reiterated her conviction of her father’s innocence regarding that charge: “I am sure that no, that he is not a spy.”
He also maintained that, whatever happens in the room, he will maintain his position: “No one is going to make me change that idea, no one.”
The Supreme People’s Court (TSP) indicated the date and time of the start of the trial against Gil Fernández in an official note released this Monday by state media. “In accordance with the provisions of articles 153 of the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba and 477.1 of the Criminal Procedure Law“For reasons of national security, the parties and persons authorized by the Court will attend the trial,” reads the brief statement.
According to article 477.1 itself, “the oral trial is public unless reasons of national security, morality, public order or the respect due to the victim or injured party, or their families, make it advisable to hold it behind closed doors.”
In her message, Gil González questioned the lack of publicity of the process and announced that she and her brother will do “everything possible” to enter the courtroom this Tuesday. Likewise, he assured that the family intends to follow the hearing “first-hand” and stressed that he will defend his father’s innocence against the charge of espionage.
The daughter of the former minister also reported incidents that, she said, made communication difficult this Monday: “My WhatsApp “It is restricted (…) for 24 hours,” he said. In addition, he specified that he had a “terrible connection”, despite the fact that in the place where he was “normally there is no bad connection.”
At the end of October, the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) reported having presented the criminal action and the case file to the TSP. The FGR then stated: “Responsibility was requested for the crimes of espionage, acts detrimental to economic activity or contracting, embezzlement, bribery, falsification of public documents, tax evasion, influence peddling, money laundering, violation of the rules for the protection of classified documents and theft and damage of documents or other objects in official custody,” the entity indicated.
For its part, the TSP assured that “in compliance with due process,” the lawyers and the accused would have had “access to the file and the provisional conclusions of the Prosecutor’s Office.” However, by invoking “reasons of national security,” the judicial authority restricted access to “the parties and persons authorized by the Court,” which excludes citizens and the press unless expressly authorized.
The family’s position has been to ask for maximum transparency. Last week, Gil González herself demanded an open process: “I join the popular call for the trial to be public, televised, with free access to the international and independent press.” And he announced that his father would not plead guilty: “He will not recognize ‘under any circumstances’ any crime; he will defend each of his actions, and with evidence.”
Former television presenter María Victoria Gil Fernández, sister of the accused, joined that line, who he told Telemundo 51: “My brother knows many things that are not convenient for many people to know… Can anyone believe that Alejandro Gil acted alone?”
In his audio this Monday, Gil González insisted that, if necessary, the authorities should precisely explain the basis for any sanction: “For dignity (…) they would have to have the morality to give a note (…) and then say what he really did, what he received in exchange and who he worked for.” She admitted that, regarding the rest of the charges, “there are questionable things” that, “of course” do not concern “only” her father, but maintained that, regarding the charge of espionage, “whatever they say, whatever evidence they show, whatever they do,” she is not interested because she is convinced of her father’s innocence.
In practice, the reservation of judgment prevents public verification of institutional claims regarding “due process” and limits scrutiny on key issues such as the individualization of charges, the existence of co-defendants, the nature of the evidence, and the chain of custody of supposedly “classified” documents.
