Havana Cuba. – From the Combinado del Este penitentiary center, in the country’s capital, the 11J protester Juan Carlos Morales Herrera denounces that he was sentenced to 14 years in prison as retaliation for having participated in the popular protests that occurred in July 2021 in more than 60 towns and cities on the island.
Morales Herrera lives in the neighborhood of La Güinera, in the capital’s municipality of Arroyo Naranjo. He is 50 years old and is a barber. He was prosecuted as part of the second group of protesters in that town, on January 16, 2022. Initially accused of the alleged crimes of attack, sabotage, injuries, sedition and damage to property, his prosecutor’s request was for 20 to 21 years of deprivation of freedom.
Morales Herrera was arrested on July 17 at his mother’s house. Initially they had him for one day in the Capri Police unit. From there he was transferred to the Cotorro youth prison, where he was kept for three days. Later they transferred him to the Criminal Investigation and Operations Division of 100 y Aldabó for eight days and finally to the Combinado del Este, where he remains until now.
In previous statements, Morales Herrera was also able to reveal the repression perpetrated against the residents of La Güinera on July 12, as well as the horror of the crowd after the young man Diubis Laurentius He was shot in the back by a police officer.
The political prisoner has also highlighted the harsh conditions he had to endure in the different detention centers where he was held captive, especially the torture suffered in 100 and Aldabó.
In March, the cuban regime sentenced against 128 11J demonstrators in Toyo Corner, Diez de Octubre municipality, and in The Güinera. More than 30 of the defendants received sentences of between 20 and 30 years in prison for the alleged crimes of sedition and theft.
The sentences were criticized by the European Union, which described them as “disproportionate and harsh,” according to a report by Radio Television Marti.
In a call to “respect fundamental rights, including freedom of expression”, the EU, which maintains a dialogue and cooperation agreement with Havana, despite the criticism received, assured that peaceful demonstration is a fundamental right.
“The latest prison sentences imposed by Cuban courts on participants in the July 11 and 12 demonstrations are disproportionate and harsh. Peaceful demonstration is a fundamental right and these rulings are intended to dissuade citizens from exercising it,” sources from the European External Action Service told Radio Televisión Martí.
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