Havana Cuba. – In the maximum rigor penitentiary center The Pitirre, Also known as “La 15-80”, in San Miguel del Padrón, the political prisoner Yasser Fernando Rodríguez González remains on a hunger strike, according to inmates of that prison.
Three prisoners who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals told CubaNet by telephone that on Wednesday, April 12, Rodríguez González was in a vehicle to be taken to an ophthalmology clinic, but with the justification of an altercation with a soldier, they did not take him.
According to the prisoners, two other inmates were traveling in the truck, who were given a packed lunch (as usual, since trips to hospitals usually take all day). However, Rodríguez González was not given any food. The sources add that when he complained, the officer known as “Captain Simón” replied that there was no lunch for him.
According to the inmates consulted, the officer’s response provoked a protest from Rodríguez González, and with that justification they made him get off the transport. Likewise, the sources added that the political prisoner went on a hunger strike from that same day, which he has continued until the moment this note was published. The foregoing was also corroborated by a source close to the family, who noted that the aforementioned officer is the official in charge of issuing the permits in those few cases in which the inmates are authorized to be taken out of the unit to external medical consultations. or funerals.
The prisoners emphasized that, being on a hunger strike, Rodríguez González is isolated, without the right to use the telephone, go out into the open air and carry out other activities that the Cuban prison authorities classify as “benefits” for good conduct, despite the fact that in the country’s Prisons and Prisons Regulations they are defined as rights.
Yasser Fernando Rodríguez González, 39 years old, was imprisoned on November 25, 2020. More than 12 months later, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the alleged crime of “incitement to rebellion”, in retaliation for writing protest posters. on the front of his house, as well as through several direct messages on social networks in which he expressed his opinions against the Havana regime.
The political prisoner has been demanding medical treatment during most of his captivity, especially ophthalmological and dental care, since in prison his eyesight has decreased and he has lost his teeth due to an infection that was not treated. In response to his claims, the prison authorities have kept him isolated in a cell for several months and without the right to communicate by telephone, except for sporadic calls to a family member and under the surveillance of a guard. So far they have not made him glasses or dental prosthetics.
