MADRID, Spain.- The official presenter Michel Torres Corona affirmed that the young people linked to the independent audiovisual project El4tico “should be released”, in a comment that contrasts with the tone of political criminalization that has accompanied the state coverage of the case since his arrest in Holguín and with his own words following such statement, made in the program With edge.
In his speech, Torres Corona described the arrest as a “controversy” and assured that the content creators “have assumed a kind of digital counterrevolutionary leadership,” and that “they have more convening power in the virtual world than in reality.” Next, he alluded to the judicial process: “However, there is a habeas corpus presented “before the court and the Holguín prosecutor’s office will say its part.”
Although he said he was in favor of release, his approach was accompanied by disqualifications: “Personally, I think they should be released, after all, they are two boys who, God knows, what they have in their heads.” He then presented the case as a matter exclusively for the authorities: “It is not my power nor that of this program to decide… In a State of Law, it is the legitimate authorities who decide in a process where they have the right to defense and judicial supervision of their guarantees.” This is what the regime’s spokesperson said, in a country where the rights of people imprisoned for political reasons are constantly violated.
The comment also included a warning of punishment. Torres Corona maintained that “supporting Donald Trump” or “requesting or applauding a military intervention in Cuba” would be “treason to the country” and demanded “all our repudiation.” In the same passage, he called for severity against “repeat offenders” or those who “make money by pandering to Trumpism, to Marco Rubio or María Elvira Salazar».
Finally, he reinforced the narrative of a besieged square used by those in power to legitimize repression: “We are at war, we are a besieged square… defend socialism in Cuba by any means.”
Essentially, the presenter’s message combines a conditional call to liberate with the same logic of stigmatization and criminal threat that the official apparatus usually uses against digital activism and freedom of expression.
Detention, charges and habeas corpus
Kamil Zayas Pérez and Ernesto Ricardo Medina, young people from the El4tico project, were arrested on February 6 and transferred to the province’s Criminal Investigation headquarters, known as “Everyone sings.” Both would have been accused by the regime of committing the crimes of “propaganda against the constitutional order” and “instigation to commit a crime,” according to reported to CubaNet a source close to the case who requested anonymity.
During the operation, the authorities searched Medina’s home, where his wife and young daughter were. According to Ciudadanía y Libertad, computers, phones, cameras and other work equipment used by the young people for their recordings were confiscated.
The Popular Provincial Court of Holguín admitted the appeal habeas corpus presented this Monday in favor of the young people and set a hearing for this Thursday, February 12, at 9:00 am, at its own headquarters, where the corresponding files and reports must be presented.
The resource of habeas corpus It was presented this Monday by Yanet Rodríguez Sánchez, friend of young people and collaborator of Ciudadanía y Libertad. In the admission document, the Court recognizes that “the request alleges detention without notification of charges, without specification of crimes and without complying with legal formalities, which could constitute a violation of fundamental rights, which is why their immediate freedom is of interest.”
Since the arrest, hundreds of young people and artists They have joined the campaign to demand the freedom of the members of El4tico.
