The Cuban Foreign Ministry rejected on Monday recent statements by the European Union (EU) Regarding the recent sentences imposed by a court on the island to opposition artists and activists Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Maikel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo”.
The general director of bilateral affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX), Emilio Lozada, pointed out on his Twitter account that these statements about Cuba by EU institutions, including those of spokesman Peter Stano, “are contrary to the principles of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (ADPC) of equality, non-interference and respect for the sovereignty of the parties”.
“The EU should abandon its double standards and address serious human rights violations involving its member states,” added the director of the Cuban Foreign Ministry in a second tweet.
The EU should abandon its double standards and address serious violations of #HR involving its member states (2/2).
– Emilio Lozada García (@EmilioLozadaG) July 4, 2022
The spokesman for the EU Foreign Service, Peter Stano, said last week in a message through his social networks that the European bloc reiterated its “concern” after the sentences imposed on Otero and Castillo, and also urged the authorities Cuban women “to respect all civil and political rights”, specifies the agency EFE.
The Spanish media recalls that the Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba (FGR) reported on June 24 that the plastic artist Otero Alcántara and the rapper Maikel Castillo Pérez, known as “Osorbo”, had received sentences of 5 and 9 years. prison, respectively.
In the case of Otero, leader of the opposition San Isidro Movement (MSI), and imprisoned since July 11, the Court “argued the express intention, sustained over time, of offending the national flag, through the publication of photos in social networks where it is used in denigrating acts, accompanied by notoriously offensive and disrespectful expressions, belittling the feelings of nationality and pride that the Cuban people profess towards our national flag”, he affirms. a note of the FGR.
Meanwhile, de Osorbo, co-author of the well-known musical theme “Patria y vida” and imprisoned for a year, the Prosecutor’s Office 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.”
Cuba: opponents Luis Manuel Otero and Maykel Castillo “Osorbo” are condemned
The trial of both opponents —considered prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, according to EFE— took place on May 30 and 31 in the Court of the Marianao municipality of Havana. In that process, three other people were also sentenced for events that occurred in April 2021.
The sentences against Otero and Osorbo have been criticized by non-governmental organizations and international human rights organizations such as AI and Human Rights Watch (HRW), adds the Spanish agency. However, the court’s decision is not yet final, so “as established by law, the accused and the Prosecutor have the right to establish an appeal,” according to the FGR.
EFE / OnCuba
