Cuza remains imprisoned in the east combined by the possession of an empty bullet, which was kept as a souvenir or amulet, without evidence of crime or possession of weapons.
Madrid, Spain.- The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) denounced The arrest of the Cuban reporter and activist Ángel Cuza Alfonso, whom the authorities accuse of alleged crimes against state security, in a process that the body qualifies as arbitrary, without legal basis and as part of a pattern of political repression.
Cuza was arrested in Havana during the last week of July, in the middle of a new repressive wave of the regime during the official celebrations of July 26. On the 31st of that month he was transferred to the Maximum Combined Security Prison of the East, where he remains under provisional prison. The authorities impute positions for illegal possession of weapons, following an empty projectile that Cuza has been kept for years as an amulet, but without evidence that it had intention of using it or that it possessed a firearm.
The OCDH described the accusation as a clear case of legal manipulation for political purposes. “We raise our voice to denounce the arbitrary detention of the independent activist and journalist Ángel Cuza Alfonso, which occurs without legal basis or indications of crime, constituting a flagrant violation of their human rights and a worrying example of the political instrumentalization of the criminal system in Cuba,” said the organization based in Madrid.
According to the complaint, the authorities claim that the possession of an empty bullet represents a threat to state security. However, OCDH points out that this object, preserved by Cuza as Souvenir, lacks any offensive capacity and does not constitute a crime under current legislation.
“The Cuban Criminal Code (Law No. 151/2022) demands material elements and a clear intention to typify crimes against state security (…). There is no active or passive conduct by Cuza Alfonso that even justifies a preliminary imputation. The mere possession of an inert object, without a context of threat or use, cannot be criminalized,” said the organism.
The principle of criminal typicity would also be violated in this case, since “every crime must be clear and taxatively defined by law.” The organization denounced that the accusation is based on an extensive and arbitrary interpretation of the Criminal Code, which contravenes not only the Cuban Constitution, but also international human rights treaties signed by the country.
The mother of the activist’s daughter, Ana Castillo, confirmed to Cubanet that he could talk to Cuza on the phone from the prison shortly after the arrest. According to his testimony, the projectile was found in his wallet, where he has kept him for years. “The police had seen it before,” said Castillo, who also denounced the difficulties in finding legal representation due to the political nature of the case.
Cuza Alfonso has been the victim of repression of the regime on numerous occasions. In November 2023 he was sentenced to one year and six months in prison for “public disorder” and released in May of this year. In 2021, he was also imprisoned for eight months after participating in a peaceful protest on Bishop Street, in support of the San Isidro movement and the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.
“It is undeniable that Ángel Cuza Alfonso has been subject to prior persecution due to his legitimate exercise of freedom of expression and civic activism,” the OCDH added. And he pointed out that “this action is nothing more than an arbitrary measure, clearly oriented to intimidate and neutralize its peaceful activism. It constitutes an open violation of the most elementary criminal principles, even within the little guarantee Cuban regulatory framework.”
The case of Cuza Alfonso adds to a long list of arrests and harassment to journalists and activists on the island, in a context marked by the closure of civic spaces and the criminalization of dissent.
