Political prisoner Yoandi Montiel Hernández, known as The Cuban Catobtained a permit to visit his family just days before he was due to serve his two-year prison sentence, accused of contempt after he launched criticism of the regime in his social media broadcasts.
The news was confirmed this Sunday by the Cuban activist Daniela Rojo, who shared in Facebook a photograph of Montiel with a much more tired face, as a reflection of the years he has spent in prison. Red wrote “his eyes of him, I no longer have words”, a publication that generated a wave of comments from followers who referred to the “pain and sadness” of his gaze.
The comedian was also arrested on April 12, 2021, at his home, where an operative from the Ministry of the Interior and about 20 police officers arrived. In a trial held on April 7, 2022, The cat He received a two-year prison sentencebut, according to the opponent Osmay Pérez, at that time there was a possibility that the lawyers and the Prosecutor’s Office would reach an agreement so that he would be released in three or five months, although there was no progress in the case.
This April he has been detained for two years, first he was taken to the State Security headquarters in Havana, Villa Marista, and then he was transferred to the Valle Grande prison, where he remains. During this time, the regime has rejected his family’s efforts for him to be released on parole and, on the contrary, in May 2022 he requested a review of his case to raise the sentence.
The regime has rejected his family’s efforts to grant him parole and, on the contrary, in May 2022 he requested a review of his case to raise his sentence.
Speaking to Cuban newspaperhis father, Lázaro Montiel, said that The cat He was arrested for “having mocked Miguel Díaz-Canel in his last direct remarks.” His mother has said that she only told “the truth”.
Contrary to the requests of human rights defenders, the number of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience remains high in Cuba. The latest report from the organization Prisoners Defenders (PD) indicates that, until the end of February, 1,066 Cubans were detained, including 34 minors, who are being prosecuted or have been convicted of the crime of sedition with a sentence of five years in jail.
One of the latest cases of greatest consternation was the arrest on March 23 of the activist Aniette González, in Camagüey, after publishing photographs of a performance with the Cuban flag as part of the campaign The flag belongs to everyone, in solidarity with the artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara. González is in pretrial detention, awaiting trial, and is accused by the authorities of “insulting the national symbols”.
One of his two daughters, Aniette Ginestá, detailed Radio Television Martí that last Tuesday they filed a writ of habeas corpus in favor of the activist in the Provincial Court of Camagüey, although they could not introduce the document directly to the Chamber “because the processes have changed a little and now they are delivered in the office” . According to her, the authorities have a week to respond to her request.
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