Fifteen Years for Transmitting a Protest Live in Cuba
Pascual Claro Valladares attempts suicide in prison upon learning of his 10 year sentence for sedition; 13 peaceful protesters in Camagüey get 4 to 15 years.
HAVANA TIMES – The awaited sentences from the Provincial Court of Camagüey against the Nuevitas protesters from August 2022 repeat the repressive pattern of the widespread July 11, 2021 protests. Thirteen Cubans have received sentences ranging from 4 to 15 years in prison for peacefully protesting in the streets.
According to activist Marcel Valdés, one of them, Fray Pascual Claro Valladares, “attempted to hang himself” in the Ceramica Roja prison, in the same province, upon learning of his 10-year prison sentence for the crime of sedition. His mother, Yanelis Valladares, who was also prosecuted for sedition, was acquitted “due to insufficient evidence.”
The longest sentence was given to Mayelin Rodriguez Prado, the young woman who was 21 at the time and broadcasted live the protests in her town on Facebook. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison, as requested by the prosecutor, for “continuous enemy propaganda” and “sedition.” The prosecutors also requested 15 years for Jose Armando Torrente Muñoz, who was ultimately sentenced to 14 years in prison for the crimes of sedition, assault, and resistance.
Jimmy Jhonson Agosto and Ediolvis Marin Mora were sentenced to 13 years in prison, both for sedition and sabotage. Lisdan Cabrera Batista was next in severity, with 11 years in prison for sedition and “other acts against state security.”
The majority of those tried were sentenced to 10 years in prison for sedition, the standard crime fabricated for the July 11, 2021 convictions. Along with Fray Claro Valladares, this applies to Davier Leyva Velez, Keiler Velazquez Medina, Menkel de Jesus Menendez Vargas, Frank Alberto Carreon Suarez, and Lazaro Alejandro Perez Agosto.
Yennis Artola del Sol received an 8-year sentence for “continuous enemy propaganda,” and Wilker Álvarez Ramirez was sentenced to 4 years for concealment.
The Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH) issued a statement on Saturday condemning “in the strongest terms” the outcome of this trial, which took place over two days in January.
The organization Justicia 11J, which keeps track of the list of protesters detained since the 2021 protests, reported in August 2022, after two days of consecutive peaceful protests in Nuevitas, the “violent” arrest of Jose Armando Torrente, who took to the streets in the Pastelillo neighborhood. The NGO warned at the time that there was “audiovisual evidence of the aggression towards his 11-year-old daughter, Gerlin Torrente Echeverría,” and another girl who was with her when police repressed the protesters.
The OCDH issued a statement on Saturday condemning “in the strongest terms” the outcome of this trial.
Gerlin’s mother was also violently detained but released on Saturday night. Similarly, Fray Claro Valladares and Mayelin Rodriguez Prado were questioned for broadcasting the protests on Facebook.
The protests in Nuevitas began on the night of August 18 with cries of “the people are tired.” Hundreds of residents took to the streets shouting slogans for freedom and demands for electricity. That day, they also threatened to return to the streets if the authorities cut off the power again.
The next day, Nuevitas residents reported the militarization of the area.
The protests, as seen in numerous videos shared on social media, were massive, illuminated by the lights of cellphones and motorcycles, and accompanied by pots and pans, horns, clapping, and loud slogans.
Alongside cries calling for an end to power outages—”turn on the power, dammit”—were also shouts for “freedom” and “homeland and life.”