Cuba Asks 7-years for Paya’s Driver

HAVANA TIMES — Cuban prosecutors have asked for a seven-year prison sentence of the young Spanish politician Angel Carromero, who is charged with manslaughter stemming from the deaths of political opposition figures Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero, reported the EFE news agency on Wednesday.

The Cuban government maintains that the traffic accident in which the men died was due to Carromero’s “speeding” and “negligence” while driving. The prosecutors are requesting three and a half years for each death.

This would not be the maximum sentence, as the island’s laws provide for terms of between one and ten years for manslaughter in a traffic accident.

The preliminary investigation lasted 12 days and the hearing could be held in the eastern city of Bayamo in late August or early September, according to sources consulted by EFE.

Meanwhile, Carromero is being held in the Ministry of the Interior prison in Havana.

According to a report in the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the government of that country is hoping that Cuba releases Carromero or applies the treaty signed between the two countries concerning the serving of prison sentences, which would allow the Spaniard to serve his sentence in his own country.