Cuban artists and opponents Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo” were sentenced to 5 and 9 years in prison, respectively, in a trial in which three other people were also sentenced for events that occurred in April 2021.
The five had been accused of “crimes of outrage against the symbols of the country, contempt, defamation of institutions and organizations and of heroes and martyrs, attack, resistance and public disorder,” according to reports. one information of the Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba (FGR).
In the case of Otero Alcántara, the Court “argued the express intention, sustained over time, of offending the national flag, through the publication of photos on social networks where it is used in denigrating acts, accompanied by notoriously offensive and disrespectful expressions. , disregarding the feelings of nationality and pride that the Cuban people profess to our country’s ensign, “says the note.
Meanwhile, that de Castillo Pérez assures that “with the manifest purpose of outraging, affecting the honor and dignity of the highest authorities of the country, he used digitally manipulated false images of these, which he made public on social networks; and with the same purpose, he made direct interventions from his personal profile to dishonor the function that law enforcement officers fulfill in society, which compromised social and collective coexistence and entailed an affront towards them.”
INFORMATION FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC ON THE CRIMINAL PROCESS IN WHICH CITIZENS LUIS MANUEL OTERO ALCÁNTARA, MAIKEL CASTILLO PÉREZ, FÉLIX ROQUE DELGADO, JUSLID JUSTIZ LAZO AND REINA SIERRA DUVERGEL WERE TRIALED.#Cuba #CubaForPeacehttps://t.co/CGFsjob4Tr
– Cuban Prosecutor’s Office (@FGR_Cuba) June 24, 2022
The trial of both artists and opposition activists —considered prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International (AI)— was held on May 30 and 31 in Havana at the Court of the municipality of Marianao, recalls a dispatch from the agency EFE.
The Spanish media specifies that the process was not linked to last year’s anti-government protests, but to events that occurred on April 4, 2021. That day, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, “Osorbo” had a run-in with some agents, apparently caused because His companion was not wearing a mask, but he managed to get away, with handcuffs on his wrist, and went to Otero Alcántara’s house, from where he shouted slogans against the Government, the report says.
In this regard, the FGR reported that the Court “considered proven” the “violent actions” carried out by “Osorbo” together with the also accused Félix Roque Delgado, Juslid Justiz Lazo and Reina Sierra Duvergel “against two law enforcement officers, one of the which they hit, frustrating the arrest of the first of these.”
Also, “the acts carried out by Otero Alcántara and Castillo Pérez by causing a crowd of people who occupied the public thoroughfare and insulted the authorities; all of which they amplified in profiles, sites, channels and publications made on existing digital platforms in social networks“.
By virtue of the foregoing, Castillo Pérez was sentenced to 9 years in prison, Otero Alcántara and Roque Delgado to 5 years in prison, and Justiz Lazo and Sierra Duvergel to 3 years in prison, a sanction that was equally replaced. period of correctional work without internment.
However, the two women “were warned that the refusal, breach or obstruction of the obligations set forth in the sentence, or the fact that they were sanctioned to deprivation of liberty for a new crime, will result in them serving the rest of the sentence. sanction of deprivation of liberty originally imposed.”
About the trial, the EFE agency affirms that “international organizations and different European embassies tried, without success, to access the hearings” and that “during those days a strong security operation was deployed around the court.” In addition, it reports that international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and AI have spoken out for the release of the opponents.
In addition, it explains that the Prosecutor’s Office had initially requested 7 years in prison for Otero Alcántara, plastic artist and leader of the opposition Movement San Isidro (MSI), and imprisoned since July 11, and 10 years for Castillo Pérez, co-author of the well-known musical theme “Patria y vida” and imprisoned for a year.
The Court’s decision is not final, so “according to the law, the defendants and the Prosecutor have the right to establish an appeal”, concludes the note from the FGR.
EFE / OnCuba
