14ymedio, Havana, 29 May 2018 — The authorities who run the Cuba Sí prison in Holguín province have suspended Eduardo Cardet’s visiting privileges for six months. Cardet, a member of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL), has been in prison since 30 November 2016, serving a three-year sentence for the crime of “attack on authority.”
According to the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN), the reason given to the opponent’s family to deny him the right to visits is that they have been “spreading false news” about his case.
“On May 26 we went to the Cuba Sí prison for a visit that was planned by Eduardo’s mother, his sister, my children and me, and they prevented us from seeing him. The prison authorities said Eduardo has had his visits suspended for six months,” Cardet’s wife, Yaimaris Vecino Leyva reported to Marti Noticias.
“This is a new arbitrariness against Eduardo and I seriously fear for his physical safety,” Vecino Leyva added. The dissident, a doctor by profession, has served a year and a half in prison as of this week, which means that under Cuban law he could be eligible for parole, having served half his sentence.
Since the death of Oswaldo Payá in 2012 Cardet has held the position of National Coordinator of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL).
This newspaper has been unable to communicate with Vecino Leyva but was able to confirm this information through the CCDHRN. A member of that independent organization says that, according to reports he received, the family “has not received a response on the condition” and “they are not being allowed visits.”
Amnesty International considers the activist a prisoner of conscience. In March of last year the NGO launched an “urgent action” calling for Cardet’s unconditional release and the CCDHRN also demanded his immediate release.
“Cuban authorities have sentenced human rights defender Eduardo Cardet to three years in prison after holding him in the Holguin prison in the southeast of Cuba, since November 2016. He is a prisoner of conscience, so he must be released immediately and without conditions,” Amnesty International said in its statement.
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