14ymedio, Havana, 17 March 2022 — In contrast to the previous trials of July 11 protesters, in which the final sentences were lower than those sought by the prosecutors, the Diez de Octubre Tribunal in Havana, which tried 33 people on January 31, has been relentless.
Thus, it has sentenced Brandon David Becerra Curbelo, 17 years old at the time of his arrest that Sunday, to 13 years in prison when the prosecutor sought five years without internment.
His sentence is one of 128 made public on Wednesday and reflects the harshness of Cuban tribunals against the 11J protesters. The sentences communicated by the People’s Supreme Court are those related to protests at the corner of Toyo and La Güinera in Havana and the jail time received by the defendants adds to no less than 1,916 years.
The convicted were grouped into six cases, tried between December 14 and February 3 for which 129 people were processed, only one was absolved and another received 4 years, “of correctional labor without internment.”
The note shared by the Supreme Court states that the accused had committed and provoked “grave disturbances and acts of vandalism with the objective of destabilizing public order, collective security, and citizen peace.”
In the cases of the protests on the corner of Toyo, they state being able to demonstrate that the accused intended to “violently subvert the constitutional order. They launched stones and bottles against several officials, agents of interior order, installations of the National Revolutionary Police, patrol cars; they overturned a motorcycle and cars belonging to the Municipal Assembly of the People’s Power and caused injuries to other people and serious material damage.”
Those protests provided the most iconic image of that day, an overturned patrol car and a young man atop it with a Cuban flag, which has become irrefutable proof for tribunals of violence, which they attribute solely to the protesters.
With regard to the events of La Güinera, the document states that the neighbors accused “went to the streets in that area and called for passers-by and neighbors to join them; they threw stones, sticks, bottles and Molotov cocktails at agents of the Ministry of the Interior and other employees of state institutions who were present, whom they injured. For several hours, those who were tried also surrounded the National Revolutionary Police station in the Capri neighborhood.
The statement did not, at any point, mention the death of the young protester, Diubis Laurencio Tejada, shot in the back by police.
In addition, the tribunal states that the events were organized, despite the fact that the protests occurred spontaneously in San Antonio de los Baños (in the province of Artemisa), and then began to be replicated throughout the rest of the country, encouraged by seeing others on social media. Similarly, it considers their occurrence during the pandemic, when exceptional measures were in place to avoid crowds, an aggravating circumstance.
As is customary, the statement highlights that the procedures adhered closely to the law, despite the numerous claims, by not only opposition groups and human rights organizations, but also international and independent organizations, that they violated rights.
Those who received the harshest sentences were Dayron Martín Rodríguez and Miguel Páez Estiven, sentenced to 30 years in prison; Wilmer Moreno Suárez, to 26; Roberto Pérez Ortega, Luis Frómeta Compet and Asley Nelson Cabrera Puente, to 25 years.
With 23-year jail sentences are Walnier Luis Aguilar Rivera, Ángel Hernández Serrano, Yerandis Rillo Pao, Oscar Luis Ortíz Arrovsmeth, Robert Orlando Cairo Díaz, Denis Ojeda Álvarez, Yoandry Reinier Sayu Silva and Yoanky Báez Albornoz.
Lázaro Zamora González, José Luis Sánchez Tito and Frank Aldama Rodríguez, received 22 years in jail; and Roland Vázquez Fleitas, Henry Fernández Pantera and Juan Emilio Pérez Estrada, 21 years.
Finally, Katia Beirut Rodríguez, Fredy Beirut Matos, Alexander Guillermo Martínez Amoroso, Dianyi Liriano Fuentes, Alexis Sosa Ruiz, Orlando Carvajal Cabrera, Jorge Vallejo Venega, Ronald García Sánchez, Alexis Borges Wilson, Donger Soroa González and Alexander Ayllón Carvajal, were sentenced to 20 years.
The list continues naming the many sentenced, in descending order down to 6 years, the shortest of the jail sentences imposed. And finally Nelsón Nestor Rivero Garzón is the only one whose sentence was commuted to correctional labor without internment.
The president of the Spain-based Prisoners Defenders, Javier Larrondo, told the Spanish agency EFE that the sentences were a “barbarity” and were exemplary in nature since the “large majority were peacefully protesting.”
The judgments issued in the first instance may be appealed to the Supreme Court.
On the other hand, the Provincial Tribunal of Havana revoked the sentence of two years of correctional labor without internment for José Díaz Silva, leader of the Opposition Movement for a New Republic (MONR), and arrested him on March 3rd.
According to the sentence, the activist violated the sanction imposed in July 2021, when he threatened a neighbor who entered his yard to steal plantains. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that he has been fined six times and has a “warning” for “meeting with people whose social conduct caused the neighbors discomfort.”
On this subject, Prisoners Defenders stated that “the Cuban regime did not stop until they jailed activist José Díaz Silva.”
COMPLETE LIST OF THOSE SENTENCED
With 30 years in prison: Dayron Martín Rodríguez and Miguel Páez Estiven.
With 26 years in prison: Wilmer Moreno Suárez.
With 25 years in prison: Roberto Pérez Ortega, Luis Frómeta Compet and Asley Nelson Cabrera Puente.
With 23 years in prison: Walnier Luis Aguilar Rivera, Ángel Hernández Serrano, Yerandis Rillo Pao, Oscar Luis Ortíz Arrovsmeth, Robert Orlando Cairo Díaz, Denis Ojeda Álvarez, Yoandry Reinier Sayu Silva and Yoanky Báez Albornoz.
With 22 years in prison: Lázaro Zamora González, José Luis Sánchez Tito and Frank Aldama Rodríguez.
With 21 years in prison: Rolando Vázquez Fleitas, Henry Fernández Pantera and Juan Emilio Pérez Estrada.
With 20 years in prison: Katia Beirut Rodríguez, Fredy Beirut Matos, Alexander Guillermo Martínez Amoroso, Dianyi Liriano Fuentes, Alexis Sosa Ruiz, Orlando Carvajal Cabrera, Jorge Vallejo Venega, Ronald García Sánchez, Alexis Borges Wilson, Donger Soroa González and Alexander Ayllón Carvajal.
With 19 years in prison: Duannis Dabel León Taboada, Adael Jesús Leyva Díaz, Lauren Martínez Ibáñez and Kendry Miranda Cárdenas.
With 18 years in prison: Odet Cruzata Hernández, Reinier Reynoso Valdes, Jesús Enrique Vázquez Cabrera, Marlon Brando Díaz Oliva, Dayán Gustavo Flores Brito, Oscar Bárbaro Bravo Cruzata, Yussuan Villalba Sierra, Ricardo Duque Solís, Francisco Eduardo Soler Castaneda, Elieser Gordín Rojas and Rowland Jesús Castillo Castro.
With 16 years in prison: Carlos Paul Michelena Valdés, Daisy Rodríguez Alfonso, Amaury Leyva Prieto, Kevin Damián Frómeta Castro, Juan Piloto Ferro and Luis Miguel Oña Jiménez.
With 15 years in prison: Felipe Almiral, Elier Padrón Romero, Brusnelvis Adrián Cabrera Gutiérrez, Amalio Álvarez González, Luis Armando Cruz Aguilera, Oriol Hernández Gálvez, Edel Cabrera González, Roberto Ferrer Tamayo and Harol Michel Mena Nuviola.
With 14 years in prison: Adán Kiubel Castillo Echevarría, Adrián Oljales Mora, Yunaiky de la Caridad Linares Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Morales Herrera, Amaury Fernández Martínez, Carlos Alberto Hernández Pérez, Andrius López Fragosa, Osvaldo Lugo Pita, Juan Walberto Verdecia Rodríguez and Lázaro Noel Urgelles Fajardo.
With 13 years in prison: Yunior García Vizcay, Carlos Luis Águila Socarrás, Adonay López López, Julián Yasmany Díaz Mena, Eduardo Álvarez Rigal, and Brandon David Becerra Curbelo.
With 12 years in prison: Karen Vázquez Pérez, Franyer Abad Dumet, José Luis Castillo Bolaños, Yan Carlos Martínez Bonne, Freidel Ramírez Castillo, Jarolkis Suárez Rojas, Idael Naranjo Pérez, Jesús Ramón Rodríguez Pérez, Yosney Emilio Román Rodríguez, Raudel Saborín González, Yasiel Arnaldo Córdova Rodríguez, Rafael Jesús Núñez Echenique, Elyán Seguí Cruz, Mackyani Yosney Román Rodríguez, Alejaime Lambert Reyes, Rolier Salazar González and Yurema Ramos Abad.
With 11 years in prison: Jaimel Alcide Firdó Rodríguez, Alejandro Bécquer Arias, Arielvis Rill Baró, Yaquelín Castillo García and José Luis Castillo de la Torre.
With 10 years in prison: Leoalys de la Caridad Valera Vázquez, Yunan González Terry, Raynel Mayet Frómeta, Brayan Piloto Pupo, Giuseppe Belaunzarán Guada, Santiago Vázquez León, Lázaro Daniel Cremé Bueno, Dayán Jesús Ramírez Rondón, Germán Barrenechea Echavarría and Eris Diógenes Mejías Vinent.
With 9 years in prison: Frank Daniel Roy Sotolongo, Yassell Guerra Campos, Marco Antonio Alfonso Breto and Liliana Oropesa Ferrer.
With 8 years in prison: Dariel Cruz García, Juan Yanier Antomarchi Núñez, Yurileydis Soler Abad, Félix Jesús Armada García, Eloy Bárbaro Cardoso Pedroso, Yoilán Limonta Mojena, Yosnel Daniel Castro Fernández and Frandy González León.
With 7 years in prison: Rubis Carlos Vicet Padilla, Emy Yoslán Román Rodríguez, Yensi Jorge Machado González and Wilfredo Limonta Mesa.
With 6 years in prison: José Antonio González Guerrero and Yeinier Ibáñez Boudet.
Translated by: Silvia Suárez
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