Yoandri Reinier Sayú Silva has an extra-penal leave of one year
14ymedio, Havana, 23 May 2024 — Political prisoner Yoandri Reinier Sayú Silva, sentenced to eight years in prison for sedition for demonstrating on 11 July 2021, has denounced medical negligence and an outbreak of tuberculosis in prison 1580 in the Havana municipality of San Miguel del Padrón.
At the moment, the young man, who will turn 22 on May 28, has an extra-penal leave of one year, after having to undergo surgery for peritonitis. According to Martí Noticias he reported, “from April 24 to May 4 I was not able to go to the bathroom and they had to operate on me because my appendix burst and I had peritonitis due to poor medical care.”
“From April 24 to May 4 I was not able to go to the bathroom and they had to operate on me because my appendix burst”
He suffered from severe pain in the abdomen for 10 days, was unable to defecate and had a high fever. It was then that the prison commanders transferred him to the Salvador Allende General Hospital, where he arrived with a burst appendix and a severe infection.
Despite having received several blood transfusions, he now needs vitamins, ferrous fumarate and folic acid, which are out of reach due to the shortage of medicines on the island.
Despite having received several blood transfusions, he now needs vitamins, ferrous fumarate and folic acid, which are out of reach due to the shortage of medicines on the island
“Inmates fall ill and have no medicine. I survived, but I could have died and some did not survive because of poor care and poor hygiene,” said Sayú Silva.
Likewise, the doctors who are treating him are investigating if he also has extra-pulmonary tuberculosis, although the tests that were performed on him are not yet ready.
The young man said that in prison 1580 there is an outbreak of that disease and that some companies are in quarantine, and he related the death of his compañero Luis Barrios, who died because of unspecified respiratory problems, which led to advanced pneumonia due to lack of necessary medical attention.
Yoandri Reinier Sayú Silva was arrested after participating in the ’11J’ demonstrations in La Güinera
“The July 11 prisoner who passed away had tuberculosis. He was left for several days. None of the guards gave him medical attention. He got worse and died, but all the prisoners knew that he died of tuberculosis, because that same company had been isolated due to tuberculosis for a few months. I’m sure they told the family something else,” he insisted.
Yoandri Reinier Sayú Silva was arrested after participating in the ’11J’ demonstrations in La Güinera, one of Havana’s neighborhoods against which the regime’s repression was most vicious. The only death recognized by the authorities occurred there on July 12th, when a person was shot in the back by a police officer.
Translated by LAR
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