Havana Cuba. – Juan Michel López Mora, head of the Department of Public Relations of the opposition Pinero Autonomous Party (PAP), from the Isle of Youth, was fined this Friday with 3,000 CUP based on the Decree-Law 370 “On the computerization of society”.
The young man told CubaNet who was detained at his home by at least eight officers of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) and State Security. “They went to my house, knocked on the door and informed me that I had to accompany them to the unit. They didn’t show me an arrest warrant, but I decided to go with them. They handcuffed me as if I were a criminal and took me on patrol to the headquarters of Sector No. 7 of Nueva Gerona”, he said.
Two alleged inspectors from the Ministry of Communications were waiting for him there, who explained that they would impose a fine on him for his posts on social networks critical of the Cuban political system. In these posts on his Facebook profile, López Mora denounced the arrest, at the end of April, of Osvel Barzagas, one of the PAP activists.
In less than a month, three PAP activists have been fined in Pinero territory. On April 21, Barzagas himself and Dayanis Salazar Pérez, executive secretary of the organization, were summoned by the PNR and fined.
State Security kept Barzagas detained and held incommunicado for four days at the PNR station; As the activist himself told CubaNet. The prolongation of his arrest was due to him smashing his cell phone in front of the officers instead of agreeing to confiscate it. Finally, he was charged with the alleged crime of “attack” and released on bail of 6,000 CUP.
According to Inventory ProjectTo date, 61 fines have been imposed on 55 people in nine provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud by Decree-Law 370. Of these, seven correspond to activists from the Pinero territory: José René Estévez Torres (04/23/ 2021), Hayro Laborí Pelegrín (10/29/2021), David Gómez Sánchez (11/05/2021), Oscar Boicet Potrillé (03/21/2022), Dayanis Salazar Pérez (04/21/2022), Osvel Barzagas ( 04/21/2022) and Juan Michel López Mora (5/13/2022).
Since its entry into force on July 4, 2019, Decree-Law 370 has been used primarily against opponents, activists, and independent journalists whom the regime accuses of disclosing “through public data transmission networks, information contrary to to social interest, morality, good customs and the integrity of people” (Article 68, paragraph i), that is, opinions and information that the Cuban Government considers negative, critical or too frontal.
In mid-2020, more than 50 international human rights organizations and independent media outlets came together to condemn Decree-Law 370. Some of these organizations were the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL), the Institute Cuban for Freedom of Expression and the Press (ICLEP), Cubalex, Freedom House, Amnesty International, Civil Rights Defenders and the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights.
Fine by Decree-Law 370 and other threats
Before being released, after three hours of interrogation, the officers warned López Mora that they would open a file for “pre-criminal dangerousness.”
Less than 15 days ago, during the 73rd Session of the United Nations Committee Against Torture, which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, officials of the Cuban regime affirmed that the crime of “pre-criminal dangerousness” would be repealed in the island’s new Penal Code. , for which at least 11,000 people are currently serving sentences of one to four years in prison, according to Prisoners Defenders.
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