Havana Cuba. — Seven people were arrested last October 1 as a result of the demonstration on Linea and F streets, in Vedado, Havana. They had been without electricity for five days after the widespread blackout in the country after the passage of Hurricane Ian. From videos and photos published on social networks by witnesses and the media, it is known that the protesters touched saucepans as a form of protest and also shouted “freedom.”
Residents of the town, on condition of anonymity in order to avoid reprisals, told CubaNet that the protest was peaceful. There were several uniformed police officers, but the arrests occurred when they were going home. The operation was led by people dressed in civilian clothes, who “were very aggressive, they hit, one of them broke the partition.”
Since then, Frank Artola (18 years old) and his sister Hillary Gutiérrez (26), José Adalberto Fernández Cañizarez (Pepitín) (38), Rosmery Almeda Tapia (Alma Poet) ( 28), Cinthya Treviño, Danilo Martínez Rojas (31) and Alejandro Guilleuma Ibáñez (29).
“About four people fell on Francito (Frank Artola), they immobilized him, that was on the corner of his house, on Calzada y F; His friends, witnesses to what happened, told me that they beat him for a whole block, to the corner of the Hotel Presidente, on Calzada y G; They also dragged him down the street about twenty meters while he called for help, and they threw him in a corner passed out, ”he assured. CubaNet Lester Rafael Zayas Díaz, parish priest of the Iglesia de la Línea y F, who has been accompanying relatives of the detainees and investigating what happened that night.
In the case of José Adalberto Fernández Cañizarez, known as Pepitin, the beating was more serious: “about seven men fell on him, hitting him, in the same place as Francito; they had to give him 48 stitches on his face,” Father Lester revealed. A few hours after his arrest, they searched his home, “but his mother says they found nothing on him that could constitute a crime.”
“Francito lost consciousness due to the blows, he himself confirmed that to his mother, who fainted from the beating,” Father Lester revealed. “The neighbors, witnesses to what happened, told me that from there, from Calzada and G, they took them to the Juan Triana school, near the place, where they beat them more,” he added.
criminal process
The young people are being prosecuted for the alleged crimes of “resistance” and “disrespect”. According to articles 143 and 144 of the current Criminal Code, the first of these crimes is incurred by anyone “who opposes resistance to an authority, public official or their agents or auxiliaries in the exercise of their functions”, and in “contempt” whoever “threatens, slanders, defames, insults, insults or in any way insults or offends, verbally or in writing, in their dignity or decorum an authority, public official, or their agents or auxiliaries, in the exercise of their functions or in occasion or because of them”.
The sanction, in both cases, is the deprivation of freedom from three months to one year, or a fine of one hundred to three hundred quotas. As there are two crimes, and if the Prosecutor’s Office adds aggravating circumstances, the sanction could be greater.
The lawyers “explained to us that there was no crime, because they were detained by people dressed in civilian clothes, not uniformed officers,” explains the priest.
In the case of Pepitin, the authorities made him sign the precautionary measure of “pretrial detention”, but this has not been the case in the cases of the brothers Frank and Hillary. The details of the judicial processes of the rest are unknown, only the crimes for which they are being prosecuted.
On the other hand, “even if they have committed any crime, nothing justifies the beating they gave Francito and Pepitin,” says Father Lester. “The family has inquired about it and they have only been told that they are investigating but that they do not know who were the ones who beat them; We all know that this investigation will come to nothing but it is important to denounce it”, he pointed out.
“I can’t sleep because of the pain”
Father Lester knows several of the detainees. At least two of them, the Artola brothers, are parishioners of his parish. Since the arrests occurred, he has worried about everyone and spoken with several of the relatives. Today it is his voice and in every mass he prays for them.
“People are afraid to speak up because they can be arrested and prosecuted just for witnessing that protest or serving as witnesses, but someone has to speak up and denounce what happened; It is very sad what is happening with those young people who simply protested because they got tired of sacrifices, of having patience”, says the priest, who speaks as if he had a great responsibility on his shoulders.
The first family visit to the prison occurred a week after the arrests, on Friday, October 7. The authorities only allowed ten minutes per detainee and “they could hardly speak because they had no privacy, all the time they had guards watching what they said,” the priest said.
Frank showed his legs “destroyed”, relatives revealed to Father Lester, “it seemed that cigarette butts had been burned on his feet”, it was the evidence that they had certainly dragged him on the ground.
“They tell me that he hardly spoke. Her mother had to go to him and ask him what was wrong for him to react, because she hadn’t even realized that her family was there. They tell me that he was very pale; he had no bruises on his face, but he told his mother that his face hurt so much that he could hardly sleep at night. He is psychologically very damaged and it is normal, he is a child who has had terrible things done to him”, says Father Lester.
In the case of Hillary Gutiérrez, her family assures that, unlike her brother, she does not present evidence of beatings, although videos and photos circulating on social networks show physical violence in detention. Hillary has a five-year-old daughter who has been left in the care of her grandmother.
Father Lester explains that against Artola the authorities allege as an aggravating circumstance of the accusations that he was wearing a balaclava at the time of the protest, but “that is an outfit that he has personalized as a way of dressing and wearing it does not constitute a crime.”
Regarding Fernández Cañizarez, “his mother was able to see him a few days ago as well; she says that she is very ill, and she, a woman over seventy years old, is devastated, she does not know what to do, ”says the father.
This Friday the family will be able to visit them for the second time in the same prison on 100 and Aldabó.
“Justicia 11J”, the working group against arbitrary arrests in Cuba, registered 28 arrests in the protests that occurred after the passage of Hurricane Ian. Of the total number of people arrested, 20 remain in detention. The NGO assures that the imprisoned demonstrators will be subjected to criminal proceedings for direct attestation. The crimes charged are “public disorder”, “disrespect” and “resistance”.
According to the Inventory Project, from September 29 to October 12 there have been at least 90 protests throughout the country, most of them in Havana, although there are still several under verification.
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