The verdict for the prosecution of Alejandro Gil may come today or tomorrow or when Remigio Ferro decides.
Puerto Padre. _ The secrecy of the Supreme Court in the case of the former minister is already evident and persistent Alejandro Gil. And, playing “Devil’s Advocate”, let us agree that yes, it is okay to secretly try a defendant for an alleged crime of espionage who, before being accused, was deputy prime minister and minister of Economy and Planning.
This is how an analogous case is usually judged in any country. But a trial or several sessions of a trial behind closed doors for reasons of State is one thing, and a very different substance, like when a “fat broth” is cooked, is to deny to public opinion the procedural details of a criminal verdict that concerns the entire nation.
Supposedly, the espionage trial against Alejandro Gil has “ended”, at least, _although without citing reliable sources_ some independent media have done this favor to the Cuban authorities, saying that the process is concluded for sentencing. While the one who should inform, the Supreme Court, remains silent.
This is how the maximum criminal judiciary remains silent in the face of what are not government secrets, but merely questions of procedural terms, when by law requirements, the resolution of the process for alleged espionage against Gil Fernández still in its infancy, would have closed with the right of the last word that assists the accused. And that if he had exercised that power, perhaps, logically, _assisted as he is by a seasoned criminal lawyer_ Gil would have reserved for that last moment to strengthen his defense with the presentation of events, evidence or elements of evidence that could incriminate other people with high positions in the regime and would constitute in terms of a naval battle. To say it as a gunner more than as a jurist in devastating “depth charges.”
It was at that moment and only then that the statement of the accused in exercise of the last word was concluded, when the president, or the president of the Chamber of Crimes against State Security of the Supreme Court that is trying Alejandro Gil, had to declare the trial “concluded for sentencing.” And it was at that moment, or it should have been if the judge deemed it so, that the accused and the other parties were instructed on the way in which they would be notified of the sentence, then declaring the session concluded.
So it is useful to ask what we in Cuba and outside the prison archipelago that is Cuba ask ourselves: When will Alejandro Gil’s verdict be released?
I ask the question because technically, immediately after the trial was held, or, at the latest the next day, meeting in secret session, the court should have deliberated and voted on the verdict. Because another thing is the writing of the sentence following the minutes of the trial and according to a protocol with specifications that constitute law, so that it would then be signed by the judges, but due to the complexities of the process, that review, which is writing the ruling, has a period of twenty business days following the vote for its signature. Which is shortened to fifteen days in this case, because Alejandro Gil is a defendant in provisional detention.
Even so, if it were essential given the labyrinths of the criminal process and even more so in this case of alleged espionage by a former deputy prime minister who was also Minister of Economy and Planning, the president of the court can grant an extension of five days, which, if it is not enough, can give rise to another extension, this one of ten additional days, so it is worth asking:
Will those 30 days be enough for a sentence to be formed that can be acquittal, but also condemnatory and from minor penalties for mere investigations of denunciation to 30 years of deprivation of liberty, life imprisonment or death penalty for conscientious espionage?
Well, maybe not, 30 days are not enough to review the results and how many in a 30-year sentence or will you know the severity of the sentence. This is how profuse the roll to be signed will be. And if that were the case, then it would be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who would sign another, yes another request for an extension, which he can grant for as long as he believes is sufficient to resolve the matter.
In other words: the verdict for the prosecution of Alejandro Gil may come today or tomorrow or when it is decided. Remigio Ferropresident of the Supreme Court, I say, “heard” the opinion of General Raúl Castro, supreme “magistrate” of Cuba and the Cubans; “seem” with which acquittals can appear as well as sanctions and more accused.
And in this string of events to reach a public verdict, a lot will have to do with what Alejandro Gil said or what he kept silent about when he had the right to the last word.
