Physics professor Pedro Albert Sánchez has been detained for more than 48 hours since last Wednesday he attended a police interrogation to which he was summoned. The academic was arrested after announcing a walk “for freedom of thought, expression and peaceful demonstration.”
After his arrest, the police officers transferred him to the unit known as “El Técnico de Alamar” where they informed the relatives that they were prosecuting him for the crime of “instigation to commit a crime,” he told 14ymedio a source close to relatives who preferred anonymity.
In a video posted on his profile FacebookSánchez specified that his walk would be from the statue of the Knight of Paris, in the municipality of Old Havana, to the Quijote Park, in El Vedado. He added that during the march he would not carry a sign or symbol but announced that he would be dressed “predominantly in blue.”
Heir to a long tradition of walkers, among whom are inscribed such nice characters as Andarin Carvajal, a Cuban athlete, participant in the 1904 Saint Louis Olympic Games in the marathon test, the professor seeks to vindicate citizen freedom on the Island through his steps.
“The reasons are the same as in the previous walks, but more intense, given that the situation in the country is the same, but more dangerous”
The professor had stated that this was his fourth walk and that “the reasons are the same as in the previous walks, but more intense, given that the situation in the country is the same, but more dangerous.” He added: “I support the peaceful demonstration, and I fear that the repressive organs themselves are the ones that condition and create violence on 15N.”
The arrest of the professor coincides with the increase in harassment and repression against all those who have shown support for the 15N march and its promoters. This friday, the independent journalist Vladimir Turró denounced that he was beaten in the middle of the street by three “henchmen” at the service of State Security, who threatened him saying that this attack was only “an advance”, in case he wanted to participate in the Civic March convened by the Archipelago platform.
Human rights organizations have shown concern about this repressive wave that the regime has unleashed against citizens who have publicly expressed their desire to participate in the demonstration.
Last Thursday, for example, Daniela Roja was summoned, a signatory of the letter delivered to notify the authorities of the capital about the march and one of the main promoters of the initiative. In his networks Rojo specified that, although the summons was in the “Organ of Minors” of his municipality, it was clear to see “the long arm of the dictatorship” that “shows its closed fist.”
“I made it clear to them that I do not indoctrinate my children in the same way that I do not allow them to be used for any kind of political act or repudiation”
At the end of the meeting, he explained in his networks that he had been asked to “think about his children” and “the consequences that could have for them growing up without their mother.” “Another thing that worried the juvenile officer is that I ‘mixed my children with politics’. Here I made it clear that I do not indoctrinate my children in the same way that I do not allow them to use them for any type of political act or of repudiation, “he added.
In statements to 14ymedio Rojo said that at this moment she is “more convinced than ever that there is a dictatorship in Cuba and that this dictatorship must end, precisely for the good of our children.”
Despite the repression, the platforms linked to the Archipelago initiative do not stop growing and add more than 60,000 followers, of them about 17,200 live in Cuba. “The three cities where we have the most members are Havana (8,594), Holguín (1,236) and Miami (1,205) in that order,” they specified.
Meanwhile, the government of the capital continues to deploy forces to counteract citizens from demonstrating. Thus, he announced this Thursday a “broad plan of cultural, recreational and sports activities” for the 502 anniversary of the Villa de San Cristóbal de La Habana.
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