The University Council of the University of the Arts (ISA) has branded of “campaigns that seek to discredit the Revolution” the open letter released by the group #FreeAbelLescay. The collective asks that the sentence against the musician be revoked Abel Gonzalez Lescay, student of musical composition at the institution and sentenced to six years in prison for his participation in the protests of July 11 in San José de las Lajas, Mayabeque.
The state institution considers that the campaigns try to “appeal to the empathy of students and professors, simplifying the facts for which Lescay was sanctioned”, and, in addition, insists that “the existing legal system in the country is unknown, since his case is in the process of being reviewed by the People’s Supreme Court”.
The note insists that “the existing legal system in the country is unknown, since his case is in the process of being reviewed by the People’s Supreme Court”
The ISA affirms that, “promoted by the media and political operators”, these campaigns try to “manipulate the transparency of the trials that took place as a result of the events of July 11, 2021” in which, it points out, there were representatives of the institution that they “attended the oral trial” and “attested to the practice of all constitutional guarantees.”
The musician has thanked the institution for the support provided and that it is not “the most repressive part of the dictatorship”, but invites both ISA and Alma Mater to be interested in knowing what the sanction says since, who were in the trial ” they will be able to discover lies as in a little detective game. The others will read a literary text so absurd that it causes what we call ’empingue'”.
Lescay adds that he is not aware of any campaign that tries to discredit “what they call the Revolution by disrespecting Spanish” and describes the writers of the institution’s statement as “cheeky” and “cheap”, although he claims to do so with “good intentions.”
Abel Lescay was arrested at his home – from which he was taken naked – on July 12 and was tortured and threatened with death for six days, according to his testimony. After being released, on July 18, “complicated” days arrived, he recalled then. “It’s ugly what happens in prison, and then on the street you stay poisoned for a while.”
The musician had said on several occasions that he never had any problems at ISA and that, in fact, when he joined this course he went to talk to the rector, who referred to him as “a talented student” and gave him psychological help to recover from the impact of those days he spent in prison.
The Prosecutor’s Office requested for Lescay, tried on January 26, seven years in prison for public disorder, aggravated contempt of a continuing nature and contempt of the basic figure of a continuing nature, and he was released pending his sentence. Finally, the joint sentence was six years, four for “aggravated contempt”, two for “public disorder” and one for contempt of the basic figure.
“This not only affects the public integrity of our students, but unscrupulously manipulates and uses their name and image in the interest of fueling a political campaign”
The University Student Federation (FEU) of ISA had published last April 8 a statement to “alert” the use of the name of several students in the aforementioned letter which, according to what he states, was modified after circulating in the institution “saying that the sanctioned student had been judged ‘only for rapping on public roads'”.
“This not only affects the public integrity of our students, but unscrupulously manipulates and uses their name and image in the interest of fueling a political campaign around the judicial processes starting on July 11,” said the FEU , which also alleged that the use of various names “was obtained by a call to sensitivity” among young people.
After learning of the conviction, dozens of citizens spoke out in defense of the musician on social networks and some of them created the #FreeAbelLescay movement, which published on April 6 a letter addressed to Miguel Díaz-Canel and other Cuban leaders, in which they requested the revocation of the sentence.
This Monday, the movement issued a statement in which he denounced the pressure exerted on several student signatories of the letter. “We know that there have been secret meetings with doctors from the Higher Institute of Art, in addition to pressure and threats of expulsion.” The note adds that any student or individual who “voluntarily decided to support this civic initiative” is free to support it or request that their data be removed from it.
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