Six young people convicted of the 11J anti-government protests in Holguín have had their prison terms commuted to house arrest, according to reported this Thursday the organization Prisoners Defenders (PD).
The association, based in Spain, broke the news through a brief tweet in which it indicated that the beneficiaries are Keyla Roxana Mulet Calderón, 16 years old at the time of her arrest, Samuel Torres Durán, Yeral Michel Palacios Román, Ernesto Abelardo Martínez Pérez and Ayan Idalberto Jover Cardosa, all under 18 years of age on 11J.
Although almost all of them have already reached the age of majority, their arrest occurred while they were minors, recalls PD, which attributes the change in measure to the complaint made to the United Nations (UN). The organization presented a report this month documenting the systematic violation of the Rights of the Child on the Island, which included a list of 36 cases of minors under 18 years of age detained after 11J.
The Cuban government, requested by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, affirmed that there are no children under 16 in prison, the legal age of majority on the island. “Currently, there are 662 inmates aged 16 to 18 years old. Of the ages of 16 and 17 there are 264, the rest are 18 years old, “he said.
According to ‘Cibercuba’, a young man from this group from Holguín who did not record PD was also released this Thursday. This is Marco Antonio Pintueles Marrero, sentenced in February to seven years
According to cybercubaIt was also released this Thursday a young man from this group from Holguín who did not count PD. This is Marco Antonio Pintueles Marrero, sentenced in February to seven years in prison.
The independent newspaper assures that the news reached him through a relative of another political prisoner and he was able to confirm it with another close friend. “I can’t believe it, first they said it was a pass, then they informed us that they had released him,” he said, without further explanation as to why.
The media attributes his release from prison to the statements made by the young man to members of the Supreme Court to whom he would have said he did not understand why other boys his age had had the opportunity to continue their studies and reintegrate while he did not.
The change in measure could also be linked to an attempt by the regime to contain the protests of the families of the detainees, particularly the minors, whose mothers have risen up against the harsh sentences and refuse to remain silent.
This Wednesday in Havana, Yanaisi Curbelo and Maylín Fajardo, mothers of Brandon David Becerra Curbelo and Lázaro Noel Urgellés Fajardo, were arrested along with Ángel Rolando Castillo, father of Rowland Castillo Castro. The three have their minor children in prison and were on their way to a peaceful march to demand the release of political prisoners that was to start in the church of La Milagrosa, although Curbelo affirms that when they arrived there was no one.
For several hours, the detainees were in the San Miguel del Padrón police unit and returned home around midnight.
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