They gave him a warning for being “prone” to committing crimes of “propaganda”
14ymedio, Havana, 30 August 2024 — Samuel Pupo Martínez – who was imprisoned for two years, eight months and 21 days following the demonstrations of 11 July 2021 (11J) – was threatened again by State Security agents with being returned to prison, this time for his posts on social networks, which criticized the regime. This Tuesday they forced him to sign a warning. In the document they indicate that he is “prone to committing a crime of propaganda against the constitutional order,” he told 14ymedio.
“They told me to put social networks aside and not post anything more against the Government and the system,” he explained to this newspaper, alluding to his encounter with two agents who identify themselves as “Darío” and “Omar.” The duo has continuously harassed him since his release from the Agüica maximum security prison on April 1, when he received a reduction of his seven-year sentence for the crimes of public disorder and contempt.
According to Cuban law, the crime of propaganda against the constitutional order can lead to sentences of between four and 10 years in prison. On the warning, Pupo wrote that he did not agree with the accusation.
His posts on social networks criticized the regime
The agents were insistent, and they not only spent part of the interrogation intimidating him in a subtle way, but they also tried to find out what he’s been doing since his release from prison. “They asked about my employment, and I replied that I am not yet working in a permanent job because my computer is broken. I have not been able to repair it, and I need it to be self-employed,” he said.
Pupo has always been an enterprising man and has a good command of English. Before ending up in prison, he taught that language to a group of students. But now, with his computer broken and his health diminished, he does “the odd job, anything else that appears.”
The time he spent locked up in Agüica wreaked havoc on his body. During that period, in addition to enduring the hostile environment, he also had to deal with scleroderma, diabetes and glaucoma, which have afflicted him for years without his receiving proper medical care. “In prison, my illnesses had a field day, so now I’m just trying to survive,” he says. Among other consequences, the prison affected Pupo’s ability to see.
With his computer broken and his health diminished, Pupo limits himself to doing ’the odd job, anything else that appears,’ he told this newspaper
During the interrogation, the agents reproached him for having met with relatives of other political prisoners and accused him of using his social networks to spread what they described as “propaganda” against the regime. This is in reference to various posts on his Facebook page where he denounces prison abuse, among other things.
In the interrogation, “Darío” and “Omar” insinuated that, if he did not comply with the warning to moderate his posts, there could be repercussions for his family. “They told me that if my intention is to leave the country with my family, the best thing is to remain calm, because they could regulate my departure,” the activist explained about the attempt to dissuade him from exercising his freedom of expression.
“Everything happened in a calm atmosphere. They didn’t yell at me; they talked in a normal way but insisted on what I should do, telling me that I could return to prison and for a longer period this time,” he said.
State Security has not left Pupo alone since, in the protests of 11J, he climbed on top of a car in the middle of the demonstration in Cárdenas, Matanzas, in front of Party headquarters, and shouted “down with communism!” and “homeland and life!” The photo taken of him became one of the most iconic images of that day.
For Cubalex, the action of the agents this Tuesday, by harassing and threatening Pupo for expressing his opinions, “violates the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, which requires public officials to respect the law and act within the bounds of their authority.”
In a statement published this Thursday, Cubalex emphasized that “discriminating against a person for his political opinion threatens human dignity,” and considered that the agents “exceeded the legal limits of their authority,” not only by trying to intimidate Pupo but also by initiating a process of illegitimate criminal prosecution, motivated solely by his political opinions.
The image of Pupo shouting ’down with communism’ and ’homeland and life’ on top of a car is one of the most iconic of 11J
Pupo also denounced on his Facebook account, one day after the interrogation, that he had been restricted from accessing the internet. “I have paid for mobile data, and in advance. But I don’t know why my service was cut off,” he said.
In his most recent post, the activist explained that after spending the whole day without internet he was able to connect to the mobile data network using another telephone line, and that’s when he changed his SIM card. “Something must have happened to my SIM card, or some problem in Etecsa left me without internet. I’ll find out tomorrow. If the Etecsa company could be sued, it would have gone bankrupt a long time ago,” he joked.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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