According to the 9/11 protester, his case is not the first, since this soldier is accustomed to “harassing the 9/11 protesters.”
HAVANA, Cuba. – Political prisoner and 11J protester Harlen Oropesa Carrero denounced in a telephone conversation with CubaNet that the official of the Technical Directorate of Investigations (DTI) of the camp The Limaidentified as “Major Yasmani”, has launched a campaign of harassment against him.
According to his testimony, on November 28, the aforementioned officer withdrew his pass (temporary exit permit) alleging that the protester was “drunk.”
According to him, on December 19, the major again accused him of being drunk, despite the fact that both the officer on duty and the head of the unit, another major named Revilla, stated otherwise, since they did not smell alcohol on his breath nor did he show motor incoordination or other signs of drunkenness.
Taking that accusation as a pretext, according to Oropesa, the uniformed man tore up his exit card, without which the political prisoner cannot leave the camp to go to work. On the other hand, he explained, receiving a new card is “difficult” in the La Lima camp.
The political prisoner considers that behind the harassment against him the military could be looking for a justification to revoke his progression to a minimum severity regime, a benefit that, in fact, was granted to him late.
Furthermore, he noted, last July he was eligible for progression to parole, which was denied. The same thing happened on December 6, this time due to the DTI officer’s accusations.
Oropesa also denounced that his case “is not the first,” because “Major Yasmani usually harasses the 11J protesters.”
Harlen Oropesa Carrero, 41 years old, is a resident of the Luyanó Moderno neighborhood, in the capital municipality of San Miguel del Padrón. He graduated in Primary Education from the “Presidente Salvador Allende” Pedagogical School.
On July 11, 2021, he was arrested on Calzada de Güines while participating in the peaceful protests that took place that day. Initially he was taken to the maximum rigor Ivanov prison, located in the Cotorro municipality, where, upon arrival, he was made to pass between two rows of soldiers who beat the imprisoned protesters. He was later transferred to the maximum rigor Valle Grande penitentiary center, in La Lisa, and later to the El Pitirre prison, known as “La 15-80”, also of maximum rigor, located in San Miguel del Padrón.
As retaliation for taking part in the protests, he was sentenced to nine years of deprivation of liberty for the crimes of “public disorder”, “contempt”, “attack” and “instigation to commit a crime”, in a trial held on August 1 and 2, 2021 in the Popular Municipal Court of Diez de Octubre.
In La Lima, and until the moment of the narrated incident, Oropesa was dedicated to collecting solid waste, the job that was assigned to him.
