Of the 127 Prisoners Released by the Cuban Authorities, Only About 50 Are Political Prisoners

Sosa Ravelo clarified last Wednesday that the measure is neither an amnesty nor a pardon /  Televisión Cubana

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Havana, 17 January 2025 — The Cuban government has so far released 127 prisoners of the 553 who, after a negotiation with the Vatican, they promised to release on January 14. The number was provided by Maricela Sosa Ravelo, vice president of the Supreme Court, to the spokesman for the regime, Humberto López, and is much higher than the 50 political prisoners registered up to Friday by the Prisoners Defenders organization. It is expected that there will be a significant number of common prisoners who have been discreet with the news of their release.

Interviewed at the Court’s headquarters, Sosa Ravelo explained that, of the 127 released between Wednesday and Thursday, 121 are on conditional release and six have extracriminal leave. The former are subjected to “a trial period” in which former inmates must meet certain conditions, maintain “good behavior” and be linked to a workplace or school, until the time of the sanction ends.

The six extracriminal licenses, on the other hand, were granted “for illness” and other reasons that prevent the inmate from staying in prison, although Sosa Ravelo did not give more details about the cases.

The six extracriminal licenses were granted “for illness” and other reasons

There have been releases “in all Cuban provinces,” López said. Each person has had a meeting with an enforcement judge who has explained their legal situation during their “trial period.” “The process will continue in the coming days,” López said. The Prosecutor’s Office will have to offer its opinion on each case raised, said Sosa Ravelo, “and it can be favorable or unfavorable.”

Some organizations, such as Justice 11J, doubt the “relatively high number of people” that the Supreme Court claims to have released. The NGO claims that it has documented 39 releases, “all political prisoners.”

Sosa Ravelo was interviewed for the first time last Wednesday by López himself about the implementation of the measure. In her speech she clarified that it is not an amnesty nor a pardon, since they “entail the total extinction of the sanction,” which will not happen in these cases. If they don’t meet their “obligations,” she warned, they could go back to prison.

Those on the list were prosecuted for “dissimilar” crimes

Those on the list were prosecuted for “dissimilar” crimes. These, she said, are “real crimes such as theft and robbery with force. There are threats, there are injuries, there are disorders. There are also some people who were punished for sedition, but sedition is not a political crime.”

Among those released this Thursday was José Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), locked up in the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, since the day of the nationwide protests on 11 July 2021.

Ferrer, in his first speeches, said that he refused to sign a document that was presented to him before his release: “I was kicked out of prison because I do not accept conditional release.” In addition, he said that he would not accept impositions of any kind by the regime, and said he felt “embarrassed for other people” about the agreements that allowed the prisoners to leave.

Another of the most anticipated releases was that of Luis Robles Elizastigui, known as “the young man with the placard” for having protested with a sign on the Havana boulevard of San Rafael, in December 2020. Robles, 20, was serving his sentence in the maximum security prison of the Combinado del Este, in Havana, and he received a brief pass in February last year.

Dariel Cruz García, 23 years old, is on conditional release for participating in the La Güinera protest on July 12, 2021

Dariel Cruz García, 23 years old, is on conditional release for participating in the La Güinera protest on July 12, 2021, and his mother told 14ymedio that she fears for her son’s future: “In this neighborhood anything can happen, because here in Cuba the situation is very bad and they want to put him in jail again.” “If my son had been given total freedom and could leave the country, I would do everything possible to get him out of Cuba as soon as possible, even if it is for Haiti,” she added.

Only through the interviews with Sosa Ravelo has the Cuban regime given the little official information that exists about the released. Humberto López, in fact, has downplayed the impact of the issue and has said that the releases occurred “systematically” in Cuba and that this process is “one more.”

Translated by Regina Anavy

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