MIAMI, United States. – The trials against Cuban artivists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez (Maykel Osorbo) were set for May 30 and 31, reported on Facebook the activist and former member of the San Isidro Movement (MSI) Anamely Ramos González.
“They have set a date for the trial of Luis and Maykel on May 30 and 31. The lawyers received the notification. On March 8 they opened the trial so it would take place almost three months later. That already speaks for itself of the pressure that they also feel knowing that Maykel and Luis mean a lot to many people, ”wrote the also curator.
Ramos González also lamented that “a trial announced in Cuba” is “a trial favorable to power.”
For his part, the journalist and writer Carlos Manuel Álvarez Rodríguez, close to the MSI, also confirmed the trial date and assured that they were “arbitrary and unfair” cases.
Likewise, he said that “both (il)legal processes acquire a particular relevance because we are talking about two artists who are a symbolic key through which we can make more visible the general situation of the more than 1,000 political prisoners that right now they remain in Cuban prisons for exercising their legitimate right to civic protest.”
late judgments
On March 8, the Municipal People’s Court of Central Havana made the request for an oral trial for Otero Alcántara and Castillo Pérez, who are approaching a year in prison under precautionary measures.
However, tax requests they were not made public until a month lateron April 7.
Both Otero Alcántara and Castillo Pérez are being prosecuted for different common causes, including “outrage against national symbols of a continuing nature”, “disrespect”, “defamation of institutions and organizations and of heroes and martyrs”, ” attack”, “resistance” and “public disorder”.
Given the closeness of the trial against both artivists, Carlos Manuel Álvarez Rodríguez asked the international press, foreign correspondents in Havana and the independent press to “try to cover both trials, or any information in this regard that emerges from the closed control of the police politics”.
“We also summon foreign diplomats on duty in Cuba to try to reach the place of trial. I know that the situation is very different today, but two years ago, when they tried to hold Luis Manuel’s first trial, the joint coordination of civil society, both inside and outside the Island, prevented that robbery, later achieving his prompt release ” , he remembered.
Receive information from CubaNet on your cell phone through WhatsApp. Send us a message with the word “CUBA” on the phone +1 (786) 316-2072, You can also subscribe to our electronic newsletter by giving click here.
