In the process, held in the Popular Municipal Court of San Cristóbal, there was no representation from the Prosecutor’s Office.
HAVANA, Cuba. – The activist Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) Hiosbel Román Ramos denounced in statements to CubaNet that authorities from the province of Artemisa “manufactured a two-year prison sentence for him.”
The activist was arrested on February 3, 2025 in his own home by the sector chief of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) of his town. The reason for the arrest, as he indicated, was an accusation made against him by a guard at the organoponico located in front of his house, who, upon being arrested for selling boxes of tomatoes that he allegedly stole from the place, declared to the Police that “he had done business” with Román Ramos.
In that sense, the activist explained that, on occasions, he has bought vegetables in the aforementioned garden, since the unit sells part of its production to local residents. Aside from the above, during a confrontation to which they were subjected at the PNR unit, the custodian of the organoponica claimed to have given him two boxes of the vegetable, which he denied.
On that occasion, the opponent explained, they kept him arbitrarily locked up for 42 days and then both he and the employee were released. However, a few months later he was summoned to trial, which took place in September of last year.
The activist specified that in the process, held in the Popular Municipal Court of San Cristóbal, there was no representation from the Prosecutor’s Office but only from the members of the court and the lawyers.
The result of the hearing was a sentence of two years in prison for the crime of theft. Román Ramos noted that initially the authorities intended to condemn him for “robbery with force,” but they changed the criminal figure when he did not receive support from the workers there.
However, Román Ramos highlighted, the person who supposedly carried out the theft, that is, the organoponic’s night watchman, was sentenced to one year of house confinement (from home to work) and, in addition, received a fine.
The UNPACU activist also pointed out that after the appeal before the Popular Provincial Court of Artemisa the sentence was ratified.
According to the family member who accompanied him to surrender to the authorities on Monday, January 19, at the time of writing this note Hiosbel Román Ramos had not yet been transferred to the penitentiary center (yet to be determined) where he must serve his sentence. At least until that moment he was kept in the cells of the Artemisa PNR Unit. The reason for the delay, according to the uniformed officers, is the lack of transportation due to fuel shortages.
Hiosbel Román Ramos is 51 years old and works in the informal sector. They reside in the community of Los Pinos, in the Artemiseño municipality of San Cristóbal.
