The Provincial Court of Holguín orders the opening of an oral trial, which will be held within a minimum period of 10 days, although no date has been set.
14ymedio, Madrid, October 2, 2026 – Ernesto Ricardo Medina and Kamil Zayas Pérez, members of the El4tico project, face prison sentences of eight and ten years for the crimes of propaganda against the constitutional order, defamation of institutions and organizations and of heroes and martyrs, and incitement to commit crimes. Martí Noticias gained access to the provisional conclusions of the Holguín Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, which has sent the request to the First Criminal Chamber of the Court. The latter, in turn, has ordered the opening of an oral trial, which will be held within a minimum period of 10 days, although no date has been set.
In statements to the Miami-based media outlet, Medina’s mother said she was convinced that there would be a guilty verdict. “Perhaps their sentences will be reduced somewhat, but there is not the slightest doubt in our minds that they will be convicted. We know that there is no rule of law in Cuba; we have no legal guarantees. Their opinion prevails, and they will condemn them because they exercised the right to freedom of expression. They are young people who have the right to say what they think, offering what, from their perspective, they believe would be good for our country,” she said.
Mileydis Medina Machín stated that State Security is, technically, the only thing that works well in a country where almost everything goes wrong. “It is the way to perpetuate themselves in power,” she argued
Mileydis Medina Machín stated that State Security is, technically, the only thing that works well in a country where almost everything goes wrong. “It is the way to perpetuate themselves in power,” she argued.
In the document, the Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants acted from November 7, 2025, to establish and implement the digital communications project known as El 4tico, for which they “set up a filming location in the residential property of Ricardo Medina, located in the Piedra Blanca neighborhood of the city of Holguín, from where they produced and disseminated content on social media.”
The text, Martí Noticias continues, cites examples of content in which criticism is made of the Communist Party of Cuba, mass organizations and the Ministry of the Interior, in addition to calling on agents of that agency and members of the Armed Forces to reject “the established legal order.”
To disseminate the content, they used technology purchased abroad, the Prosecutor’s Office maintains, including computers, telephones, microphones, cameras and other accessories. The Public Prosecutor’s Office links these purchases to conversations between the young men and exiled opponents in Spain, among them Yunior García Aguilera, Carolina Barrero and Amelia Calzadilla, whom they allegedly asked for advice, technical training and scripts.
“They are common devices. They are not advanced or sophisticated technology items. Of course, they did not seize weapons, propaganda, leaflets, posters,” emphasizes Medina Machín, who has also addressed the relationship with the exiles. “They are people who, at some point in history, have also expressed their disagreement with certain things that happen in this country, but that proves nothing. They talk about scripts that were indeed sent, edited abroad, and about people who greeted them at some point, but that does not mean that they edited any script,” she argued.
Medina and Zayas were arrested on February 6 of this year – they have therefore spent eight months in pretrial detention – following several home searches. The young men remain imprisoned at the Holguín Provisional Prison and have received support from organizations such as Cubalex, the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Expression and Press and Prisoners Defenders, as well as the international organizations Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
“They wanted to encourage critical thinking among people. We have become accustomed for many years to having a way of thinking imposed on us, but the new generations no longer accept that,” Medina maintained.
“They wanted to encourage critical thinking among people. We have become accustomed for many years to having a way of thinking imposed on us, but the new generations no longer accept that”
During his time in prison, Kamil Zayas wrote a letter affirming his convictions: “It has been worth it. Do not give up. Let us now build a people, one that is just and good. We are counting on you. Long live a Dignified Cuba.”
Ricardo Medina, for his part, released through his mother a handwritten letter in which he denounced that State Security was pressuring him to retract his statements through a video. The young man refused and stressed that repenting “would be a lie.”
The news came the same day that the sentence following the oral trial of Anna Sofía Benítez, known on social media as Anna Bensi, and her mother, Caridad Silvente, became known. For each of them, “two years of restriction of freedom” have been requested, although the Court’s ruling is still pending.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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