14ymedio, Havana, 7 April 2022 — The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office has informed, after months of waiting, of the sentence request that they will make to the court that judges Maykel Castillo — the rapper known as ‘Osorbo’ — and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara: ten years for the first and seven for the second.
The information has been released by the rapper’s Facebook account. Imprisoned since May 18, he will offer more details about the crimes charged to both, as well as the other three defendants, present on April 4 when Osorbo was arrested.
“For now it is difficult to even think, but we will do all the analysis and the pertinent calls. We will not abandon you. How miserable that power that stops at nothing! How profoundly miserable the reality of death that they extend to everything they touch !” says the note.
Both artists share the same case file, in which they are accused of aggravated contempt, public disorder and instigation to commit a crime by going out on the street , in front of the headquarters of the San Isidro Movement in Old Havana to sing Patria y Vida along with the neighbors, on 4 April 2021. Alcántara also faces the accusation of outrage against national symbols, charged against him for making the work of art Drapeau.
However, neither of them was arrested at the time. Osorbo was arrested the following May 18, and was ‘disappeared’ until he was sent, on May 31, to the Kilo Cinco y Medio maximum security prison.
Alcántara, for his part, was arrested on July 11, before being able to join the demonstrations that took place that day in dozens of places throughout the island.
Until now, they have remained in preventive detention, and numerous international organizations, such as the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America, Freedom House, International PEN or Prisoners Defenders, have demanded from the Cuban government the immediate release of both artists.
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
