Twelve Cubans who participated in the demonstrations on July 11, 2021 in the city of Cárdenas, in western Cuba, were sentenced to between 5 and 16 years in prison for various crimes, the Supreme Court reported.
In the trials, held from December 8 to 10 last “in the Central Territorial Military Court”were judged “13 citizens, accused of committing and provoking serious disturbances and acts of vandalism” in Cárdenas, 140 km east of Havana, said the Supreme Court (TSP)in a statement published on the Cubadebate news portal.
Of the 13 defendants, 12 were found guilty of crimes of sabotage, public disorder, attack, robbery with force or violence and intimidation, and one was acquitted, added the TSP, which did not specify the age of those convicted or the crime charged in each case.
The longest sentence fell on Jorge Luis Argüelles Bayate, who received 16 years in prison, while Leidiana Prohia Guevara, the only woman in the group, was sentenced to 12 years. The rest of the sentences range between 5 and 15 years in prison, and all will be able to appeal their sentences before the Supreme Court.
According to the statement, the group gathered on July 11, 2021 in the surroundings of a shopping center in Cárdenas, against which they violently threw stones and sticks, “causing serious damage” materials, and then some of their merchandise was stolen. They also released “rocks and molotov cocktails” against police officers and their patrols.
Thousands of people took to the streets on July 11 and 12, shouting “Liberty” and “We are hungry”in nearly 50 cities in the country dissatisfied with the shortage of food and medicine, as well as the constant blackouts, at the worst moment of the pandemic.
The government reported on January 25 that 790 people, including 55 under the age of 18, were charged for the July demonstrations. And another 172 had been convicted so far.
The NGO Human rights group Cubalex, based in Miami, has said that Sentences imposed in previous trials on July 11 protesters are excessive and in some cases violate due process guarantees.
The organization has pointed out that the long sentences respond to a criminal policy that seeks to “severe sanctions as an exemplary effect so that the rest of society is inhibited”.
Source: Gestion
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