Relatives of Cubans on trial for protesting blackouts praise their lawyers

Relatives of Cubans on trial for protesting blackouts praise their lawyers

The nine protesters who came out to demand the end of the blackouts in July 2022 in Aguada de Pasajeros, Cienfuegos, will know their verdict on June 28. Almost a year after the protest took place in the Covadonga neighborhood, the court has heard the statement of several agents of the Ministry of the Interior and the defense of the accused.

The situation is delicate, since the Prosecutor’s Office has attributed to the protesters the crimes of sedition and contempt and, in two cases, also sabotage, based on the allegations that the witnesses –mostly police officers or civilian agents– have changed several times. According to the relatives, the lawyers have presented solid arguments that demonstrate the innocence of the defendants and the ill will of the accusers.

“There is no evidence,” summarizes the relative of one of the detainees, with whom this newspaper has been in contact since the beginning of the trial. The only material that the Prosecutor’s Office has is the testimony of the “trusted agents of the Intelligence Directorate,” he argues. “There is no one outside of them to say that they saw and identified them.

The only material that the Prosecutor’s Office has is the testimony of the “trusted agents of the Intelligence Directorate”

The defendants are Roche Valentín Ibáñez González (29 years old), Elisnaide Martínez Cañete (37 years old), Dagoberto Escobar Sosa (62 years old), Jorge Armando Castañeda Terrero (36 years old), Elier Alfonso Fonseca (whose age was not made public), Pedro Caride Santana (28) and Marco González Castro (18), as well as Gianny Betancourt Leiva (22) and Seify Carmona Méndez (48).

The “inaccuracy” and “viciousness” have marked the statements of the Police, exposes the relative. “There is an agent who works in the Covadonga neighborhood, who is the only one who said, and only in the most recent statement, that he had been present at the protest. However, in the three previous interviews with the Prosecutor’s Office, the same individual affirmed that they had acted after receiving the information given to them by their ‘trusted agents’ in the neighborhood”. Warned by the lawyers, the judges have taken this inconsistency into account.

It was not the only case. “There were witnesses who wanted to change the initial statement they had offered to the Prosecutor’s Office,” he adds. “They were people who at that time wanted to support the Police, when they had to testify only in front of the prosecutors. But now they have to do it in front of a court where the defendants, their families, the judges and the defense are present. Several spoke of more or lied”.

The Prosecutor’s Office continues to request 10 years of imprisonment for the defendants in most cases. In others, he asks for 12 or 13 years – the maximum penalty for sedition – or one year for contempt. Those who tore up a propaganda poster with the slogan “Victoria de Girón” are being asked for an additional 10-year sentence. One of them is credited with breaking a store window and stealing a bottle of rum. The cuts on his legs have been considered proof of the crime.

“They have been able to demonstrate that these people came out to protest to demand that the current be turned on, not against the Revolution or against the president”

“The lawyers have defended everyone with strong evidence and arguments,” continues the family member. “They have been able to demonstrate that these people came out to protest to demand that the current be turned on, not against the Revolution or against the president. In other words, they cannot be charged with the crime of sedition if they only shouted out loud, let them put the light on.”

Judging by the state of the process, the relatives are hopeful that the sanctions will be minimal. This Thursday, the defense will be carried out by the lawyers of González Castro, Martínez Cañete and Escobar, who were pending.

The accusation file of the nine protesters, to which this newspaper had access, shows –with the same blaming approach as the police statements– that the detainees “decided to get hold of cauldrons, cans and other suitable instruments to cause scandal and started a protest , where to the rhythm of the touches of these metals they incited the cohabitants of the neighborhood to join the demonstration, vociferating phrases of demands such as ‘put on the P current…’ [pinga]disturbing in this way the public tranquility”.

The protests in the Covadonga neighborhood were part of those that took place, all over the islandat the most critical moment of the energy debacle, in July and August 2022, exactly one year after the 9/11 demonstrations that spread throughout the country and for which they were already tried or are awaiting trial more than 900 people.

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