Just one day before the trial of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Osorbo begins, this Monday, May 30, in the Marianao court in Havana, both opponents have been subjected to new arbitrariness by the authorities.
The artist and leader of the San Isidro Movement has been punished and without permission to make calls for having taken the audio he recorded last May 17 and disseminated by Claudia Genlui in which she spoke of the repression suffered in recent years, the offer of release from prison by exile that was made to her by the regime and she rejected; and of the fighting spirit that he wishes to transmit to his son and to the entire Cuban people. Otero Alcántara has been in the Guanajay prison since July 2021, when he was arrested before being able to join the protests on the 11th of that month.
The lawyer was informed that “she had had some problems at the firm and her trials had been restricted until August 1”
For his part, Osorbo has been penalized with a change of lawyer a few hours before the trial, with the damage that this may entail. The information was provided by Anamely Ramos, who last Friday explained that the rapper’s lawyer, Ginett del Solar Vega, was disqualified by the authorities.
The events occurred the day before when, during a visit to Villa Marista, where Maykel Castillo had been transferred after a year’s detention, she was informed that “she had had some problems at the firm and her trials had been restricted until August 1”. From now on, her defense is led by Yoilandris Savón.
“A fact like this is very suspicious, just a few days before the trial. For us it was quite obvious that it was a new trap arranged by State Security, for which the Cuban judicial system lends itself. It is very rare that a lawyer take away the trials that are already planned, in any case new hires, and less than a week before the trial,” said Ramos, who demanded answers from the firm and again asked the foreign press, the diplomats on the island and the foreign governments that support the process that begins this Monday.
some media Spanish people have woken up this Monday with extensive notes on the beginning of the trial.
The San Isidro Movement has also asked for support from the population through social networks, with the dissemination of the hashtags #freeMaykelOsorbo #FreeLuisma and #LibertadParaLosPresosPoliticos
The San Isidro Movement has also asked for support from the population through social networks, with the hashtags #freeMaykelOsorbo #FreeLuisma and #LibertadParaLosPresosPoliticos. In addition, abroad there are some planned actions. In Miami, at 6 p.m., a human cordon will be held outside the Ermita de la Caridad, while in Madrid a similar activity will take place in Puerta del Sol at 7 p.m.
Otero Alcántara faces seven years in prison for the crimes of aggravated contempt, public disorder and instigation to commit a crime, while for Osorbo the Prosecutor’s Office asks for ten years for attack, public disorder and escape of prisoners or detainees.
The organizations Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued a joint statement requesting support also from the international community for what they consider a process “for exercising their human right to criticize their own government.” “Latin American governments should not remain silent when artists are threatened with prison sentences, a display of extreme intolerance typical of the brutal dictatorships that ruled the region in the past.”
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