Five young people from La Güinera, in Havana, who received sentences for the popular protests of July 12, were released after an appeal, according to an announcement by the Cubalex Legal Information Center and the activist Salomé García. Those released had received sentences of between nine and 18 years in prison.
The young people are Marlon Brando Díaz Oliva, 20 years old, whom the Prosecutor’s Office had asked for 15 years in prison, but received a sentence of 18. Also the young Marco Antonio Alfonso Breto, 19 years old, who denounced having been tortured with cigarette burns and for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requested 15 years in prison and received a nine-year sentence.
Another of the young people released is Fran Daniel Roy Sotolongo, 19, Yensy Jorge Machado González and Emiyoslan Román Rodríguez, both 18.
Roy Sotolongo was charged with assault, bodily harm, public disorder, damage, incitement to commit a crime, and sedition. The Prosecutor requested 15 years in prison and he was sentenced to nine. When he was arrested he was in the Compulsory Military Service and initially, his case was transferred to the Military Prosecutor’s Office.
“However, this body rejected it, alleging that in this criminal process the majority of those involved are civilians, therefore, they would be prosecuted under ordinary justice for the alleged crime of sedition on a date yet to be determined,” the data says. collected by Cubalex about him.
Before the release of the five young people, the activist Salomé García, questioned that other protesters who were also captured in La Güinera were not released
Machado González was also sentenced to nine years in prison for the crimes of public disorder, attack and instigation to commit a crime, but in October of last year, the Prosecutor’s Office changed the charges to the crime of sedition.
As for the young Román Rodríguez, sentenced to 12 years in prison, when he was arrested he was subjected to interrogations and his possible membership in foreign organizations, especially those based in Miami, was questioned. The young man was captured along with his two brothers. His case was brought before the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, according to activist Darcy Bo.
“This means that during the last two weeks the Cuban State has been subject to very serious reviews that have not been carried out for several years. Minors deprived of their liberty are a key issue on which each of these groups of international experts demanded information. accurate and broken down,” Bo wrote in a post by Facebook.
Precisely this Friday, the United Nations Committee on Torture described as “alarming” the high number of detentions in Cuba and declared that the State took measures “manifestly contrary to the Convention against Torture”.
Before the release of the five youths, the activist Salomé García, questioned that other protesters who were also captured in La Güinera were not released, such as Eloy Bárbaro Cardoso, an 18-year-old university student, as well as Brunelvis Cabrera and Dariel García. “Enough of mock justice, we know that the institutions are not independent, free them all,” Garcia demanded on Facebook.
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