A Havana Municipal Court sentenced nine protesters from the anti-government protests of July 11, 2021 (11J) to up to 15 years in prison, according to the agency EFE.
The ruling, published on Thursday and to which EFE agreed this Saturday, finds the nine people on trial guilty of a crime of sedition, all men between 25 and 39 years of age.
The convicts were linked by the prosecution with the “violent actions” that took place on that date in the vicinity of the popular Esquina de Toyo, in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre. Some of the violent incidents of the massive protests took place at this point in Havana, recalls the Spanish media.
The sentence – which is not final and can be appealed – speaks of throwing blunt objects at the Police and assaults on agents.
In addition to inciting other people to join the protest and engage in violent actions, the court stated that the defendants “hoped to form a large conglomeration following their objectives and orientations of the enemies of the revolution for the sake of overthrowing the constitutional socialist government.”
The defense argued for its part in all cases that the crime of sedition had not occurred. The sentence ensures that the facts go beyond the types of illegal demonstration and public disorder, says EFE, which does not detail the amount of the sentences for each convicted person.
Instead, it points out that the sentences add up to 81 years in prison for seven of the defendants and 10 years of “subsidized deprivation of liberty for correctional work without internment” for the remaining two.
Cuba and the European Union discuss those convicted of the 9/11 protests
The trials against the 9/11 protesters in Cuba have been carried out since the end of 2021 and their conduct, to which the international media have not had access, has not been without controversy.
as he remembers EFE, relatives of the convicted, opposition activists and NGOs have criticized these processes, alleging a lack of guarantees, fabrication of evidence and high sentences. Meanwhile, the Cuban Supreme Court and other authorities on the island assure that due process has been observed and judicial guarantees have been respected in all cases opened by the demonstrations.
This is the second sentence related to the anti-government protests — the largest in decades in Cuba — that has been published so far this month. In the previous one15 people were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison.
Some 700 9/11-related sentences have been handed down so far, according to records kept by independent organizations. Of these cases, some penalties go up to 30 years in prison for the crime of sedition.
The Cuban Minister of Justice, Óscar Silvera, held a meeting this January with ambassadors of the European Union where the community block came to consider the pardon of 9/11 protesters, as he learned EFE.
EFE / OnCuba
