Havana/Family and friends of Kamil Zayas and Ernesto Medina, creators of the project El4ticohave made an urgent call to the international community, human rights organizations and the media to make the case visible and demand the immediate release of both young people, detained on February 6 in Holguín.
In a press release made public this Sunday His relatives denounce the arbitrariness of the arrest and point out that the crimes charged by the Prosecutor’s Office –“propaganda against the constitutional order” and “incitement to commit a crime”– are based exclusively on opinions and content disseminated on social networks. “Expressing yourself is not a crime. Freedom of thought and speech cannot be punished with prison.”
The text also refers to the message that Kamil Zayas transmitted just the day before from the Holguín Criminal Instruction Center, where he is being held. “What began as a humble room, they have managed to turn it into a huge house,” says the young communicator, and adds: “It has been worth it. Don’t give up. Let’s now build a town, a fair and good one. We are counting on you. Long live Cuba Digna.”
“What started as a humble room, they have managed to turn it into a huge house”
The message was spread through the activist Paula Amador Lobónwho also added in the publication: “Pride and admiration are too small to describe what it awakens. Needless to say, Kamil is not alone. All that greatness is supported by those around him.”
The relatives claim to have lived in uncertainty during these more than two weeks, due to the lack of clear procedural guarantees and denounce that it is “a disproportionate punishment for the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression,” and they emphasize that despite the unjust situation, the young people “remain firm.”
The case of Zayas and Medina has drawn international attention in a context of extreme crisis and increasing repression, and joins those of other Cubans prosecuted for publications on the internet or for expressing critical opinions against the Government, under criminal offenses such as “propaganda against the constitutional order” or “incitement to commit a crime.”
This same Monday, the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and the Press (Iclep) denounced the detention in Havana of Moisés Legrá Díaz, arrested after writing the phrase “Homeland and Life” on a wall near the court in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality. According to the information released by activist Anamely Ramos, the citizen was summoned days later under the pretext of an interview and later transferred to Villa Marista, where he remained incommunicado for almost a week.
According to the complaint, although Legrá Díaz admitted having carried out the graffiti, the authorities are trying to accuse him of other acts and also accuse him of propaganda against the constitutional order.
