MIAMI, United States. – The Guantanamo reporter and activist Niober García Fournier was accused of the alleged crime of “usurpation of legal capacity,” after being detained this Monday by State Security agents, according to statements by his wife, Idilsa Bailli Rodríguez, to CubaNet.
García Fournier had been summoned last Thursday, January 9, to appear this Monday at the Guantánamo Provincial Operations Unit. The crime of “usurpation of legal capacity” is usually applied by the regime against independent journalists.
“All of this is because we showed up in the Plaza de la Revolución, in [la Oficina de] Attention to the Population of the Council of State, on December 30 for the Niober immigration regulation,” said Bailli Rodríguez.
The reporter and activist has been “regulated” for at least eight years, a term that the regime uses to refer to the ban on leaving the country applied to activists, independent reporters and opponents.
“He is practically detained here in his country,” said his wife.
Bailli Rodríguez also said she felt “very worried” about the health of her partner, who suffers from glaucoma, hypertension and bone decalcification.
Last Thursday, the reporter and activist reported that he had been verbally summoned by State Security (SE) agents from Guantánamo.
In statements to CubaNetGarcía Fournier stated that Major Caraballo, who identifies himself as the second head of Criminal Instruction of the State Security in the province, and five other agents showed up at his home and told him that he had to go to the Operations Unit this Monday. of the territory, although without explaining why.
“I imagine this is because of a complaint I made about the immigration regulations I have, and also to annoy. They do not lose the habit of annoying, sowing tares, threatening, and everything that we know they do,” said the independent reporter in reference to the harassment that he has suffered for years.
García Fournier also reported being a victim of intimidation by regime agents, which includes threats, brief detentions and surveillance.
“Twice SE agents were at the entrance to my house for an entire early morning, without saying anything to me. A few days later, a patrol car parked on the corner of my block. Surveillance events,” he explained.
For years, the independent reporter and his relatives have been harassed by the island’s regime. In October 2023, he was summoned in circumstances almost identical to the current ones.
Months before, in August of that year, agents of the Cuban regime They threatened to imprison him. On that occasion, he was summoned orally by the sector chief of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) to appear before the Guantánamo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.
Likewise, in April 2022, García Fournier denounced a disinformation campaign launched by the political police against his family.
The reporter was arrested on July 11, 2021 (11J) for trying to cover the historic demonstrations that day, which spread to more than 60 locations on the Island. On that occasion, he spent more than two days in detention. In addition, he has been fined twice under Decree-Law 370, also known as the “Azote Law.”
