Havana Cuba. – The political and opposition prisoner Walfrido Piloto Rodríguez was confined in a punishment cell in the Valle Grande prison since March 29, shortly after receiving a beating in retaliation for allegedly organizing a protest against the inhumane conditions of that prison.
Another inmate from Valle Grande, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told CubaNet via telephone that shortly before receiving the severe punishment, Piloto Rodríguez had been speaking with other inmates about the deplorable conditions of that prison center ―among them the terrible state of the scarce food they receive there― with the aim of getting everyone to join in protest.
The source adds that, unfortunately, the initiative reached the ears of Lieutenant Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, head of Internal Order, and Major Agustín Mora, head of the prison, which resulted in them giving him a “savage beating” and subsequently They will lock him up for punishment.
According to the same source, Piloto Rodríguez received another beating on March 31 as punishment for shouting the slogan “Patria y Vida.” Likewise, he also points out that, according to another inmate who was able to see him, the opponent is very mistreated and in quite a bad state.
Piloto Rodríguez, who lives in the neighborhood of El Palenque, in La Lisa, participated in the popular protests that took place on July 11, 2021 in more than 60 towns and cities on the island. Although the date of his trial has not yet been been fixed, has a prosecutor request of nine years in prison for the alleged crimes of public disorder, contempt and possession of a firearm.
“[El 11J] I demonstrated peacefully with slogans of ‘Down with Díaz-Canel’, I asked for milk for the children and an end to the repression against the people. So they send me here to this concentration camp [prisión de Valle Grande] and after seven months of being here I get the prosecutor’s request for nine years in prison “, the political prisoner himself told CubaNet.
Rodríguez Piloto assures that there are videos and witnesses to prove his innocence. “State Security does not want to let me go. This is an arbitrary incarceration because all citizens have the right to demonstrate, “he recently assured.
In that sense, he denounced that the regime tries to fabricate causes that do not fit his “peaceful” actions. “They are charging me with the crimes of contempt, public disorder and possession of explosive weapons.”
In 2011, Walfrido Rodríguez Piloto was sentenced to five years in prison after leading a protest in the Plaza de la Revolución. In April 2020 he was sentenced to eight months in prison after the Police seized 30 packages of coditos that he had purchased to feed his family.
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