Prison sentences of 6 to 30 years for 128 July 11 protesters in Cuba

A group of 128 Cubans who participated in demonstrations in two neighborhoods of Havana on July 11 and 12, 2021, considered the most violent neighborhood at the time, were sentenced to 6 to 30 years in prison, the Supreme Court reported on Wednesday.

In a statement published on its website, the Supreme Court (TSP) said that 129 Cubans, who participated in protests in the Diez de Octubre and La Güinera communities, were tried in a trial held between December 14 and February 3, “accused of committing and causing serious disturbances and acts of destruction”.

The TSP statement added that 128 of the 129 defendants were found guilty of sedition and theft, two of whom were Dailon Martin Rodriguez and Miguel Pais Esteven who were sentenced to 30 years in prison, but did not specify the age of the convicted persons.

The statement said the two groups flipped vehicles and patrols and threw stones, bottles and homemade incendiary bombs at police facilities and Ministry of the Interior personnel, causing “injuries to others and serious property damage”.

In La Güinera, the only person who died died in historic demonstrations that erupted in nearly 50 Cuban cities shouting “freedom” and “we are hungry”.

His mother, Esmeralda Rodriguez, told AFP that 36-year-old Dailon Martin Rodriguez “started recording videos that day, sending videos to his father,” but in the middle of the crowd, feeling the stone rain, he fell and lost his phone.

Zoila Rodríguez, the mother of 36-year-old Katia Beirut, commented that her daughter and husband began to be tried on charges of “public disturbance” and eventually for “sedition.”

- “Exemplary effect” -

The prosecution said in the file that Katia recorded on his phone was “posting everything that was happening and thus attracting more people to join.”

Another 125 participants in the two protests were sentenced to 6 to 26 years' imprisonment, 1 to 4 years of non-custodial re-education through labour, and another acquitted. Everyone can appeal their verdict to the Supreme Court.

The Government reported on 25 January that 790 persons had been charged in connection with the July demonstrations, including 55 minors under the age of 18. So far, 172 more people have been convicted.

However, according to Justice 11J, a Cuban organization that keeps records of cases, 1,442 people have been arrested, of which 756 are still in prison.

Laritza Diversent, director of Cubalex, a Miami-based human rights NGO, told AFP that considering Havana was one of the hardest provinces to govern, the ruling heard on Wednesday “had an exemplary effect on the rest of society” and one of the provinces with the most protests and arrests during the July outbreak.

The activist criticized the crime of “sedition because we know that the protests are completely spontaneous, harassment is normal for others in any demonstration, they ask people to join (...) , which should under no circumstances be classified as sedition of rebellion”.

The Cuban government accused the United States of being behind the July 11 demonstrations, the largest protest in the island's history since the triumph of the 1959 Revolution.

Washington, for its part, has insisted on the release of these prisoners.

The US Embassy in Havana tweeted on Monday: “As the #Cuba regime is trying dozens of #11J protesters on unfair charges this week, we know that harsh verdicts are being used to scare Cubans.”

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