The fabrication of evidence and the manipulation of witnesses have marked the last hours of the trials taking place in Cuba against the July 11 protesters. The oral hearings against the protesters taking place in the city of Santa Clara focus the attention of family members, human rights organizations and the independent press.
Among the complaints from family members that have been heard on Wednesday, it transpired that a witness at the hearing said that State Security negotiated with him to just fine him in exchange for using his testimony to accuse the detainees at that time. city during the massive protests half a year ago.
Tayri Lorenzo, the mother of political prisoner Andy García Lorenzo -one of those tried this week- told Saily González on Facebook from the outskirts of the Villa Clara Provincial Court, that the prosecution’s witnesses “were lying” and raised “different slanders” against the accused.
Barely a few relatives of the protesters who are being tried have been able to enter the trials, so the testimonies of what happens inside the courts have only been reconstructed in a fragmented way from what the few relatives who have told managed to access the room.
“There are many witnesses to what I am saying. The Prosecutor’s Office ran out of arguments regarding that. The judge speaks very quietly, we realize that everything is written” in advance
García’s mother assures that this Wednesday they took an inmate to the court to give his testimony and “said that he gave the first statement [contra los manifestantes] because he was coerced by State Security that negotiated his freedom and [le aseguró] that he would get a fine of 1,000 pesos if he involved someone else. “
The woman reaffirms what she heard in the inmate’s voice: “There are many witnesses to what I am saying. The Prosecutor’s Office ran out of arguments regarding that. The judge speaks very quietly, we realize that everything is written” in advance.
He also said that in the trial they are putting a lot of “emphasis” on the protesters shouting phrases such as “down with the revolution”, “homeland and life”, “Díaz-Canel singao”, “pinga police” and other protesting slogans.
On the other hand, García’s mother reproaches that there is no reference to other demands raised by the protesters: “That the people ask for food, that the people are hungry, they need food, that the people do not want repression, they want freedom. they do not emphasize, only in the offenses that were made “.
Regarding the case of his son, Lorenzo affirmed that the officer who led the process of the young man, named Yadian Cárdenas, told the family that “Andy was not involved in acts of violence at any time,” but without specifying details about those moments. .
However, his daughter, Roxana García Lorenzo, sister of the prisoner, was able to access the hearing on Wednesday, who told the family that the officer himself “testified against Andy saying that at all times he was inciting violence, which It is a lie. There is no video of that. The lawyers asked to present the videos but they say that due to technical problems they are not there. We have all the videos and in none of them does Andy hit, on the contrary, at all times he is avoiding violence, “says the young.
“That the people are asking for food, that the people are hungry, they need food, that the people do not want repression, they want freedom. They do not emphasize that, only the offenses that were made”
In the interview with Saily González, Roxana García Lorenzo denounced that in a police station, where she spent hours in detention with her boyfriend last October, they showed her videos showing her brother while defending the law enforcement officers, requesting the other protesters not to be attacked and advocating for a peaceful protest.
At that time, the young woman recounted that she asked to be allowed to copy the videos, but the police officers’ response was negative and they justified that only the defense attorney had access to the evidence. However, “the lawyer [de García] he did not have access to the videos “to prepare the defense, he denounced this Wednesday.
He also mentioned officer Yadian Cárdenas who said during the trial that García was “attacking and offending the police all the time and inciting violence.” He also affirmed that the young man “was the leader” of the protest but “being the leader of a demonstration is not a crime but they do take it as a crime (…) The Prosecutor’s Office is presenting witnesses who work for themselves,” he said.
In Santa Clara, in addition to García, 15 other young people are tried for the crimes of public disorder, contempt and attack. This Wednesday, the Villa Clara Provincial Court continued with a strong police siege, which was supported by agents from special brigades and from State Security. Trials of 11J protesters are also taking place in three other cities in the country.
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