Miami Trial of Cuban Painter Postponed

HAVANA TIMES, Feb 6 — Cuban painter Agustin Bejarano, accused of child sexual abuse, will not go to trial until May 21, according to announcements made following a Friday hearing before a Miami-Dade circuit court.

Bejarano is marking the first year since his arrest in the US still without having gone to court. This is the fourth time the trial has been postponed at the request of the defense, which in this case argued that the defendant’s wife is sick in Cuba and therefore was unable to attend the legal proceedings.

The painter was arrested on March 28, 2011 and remains jailed without the possibility of bail on the grounds that he could flee the US if released.

Although Bejarano faces a sentence of 25 years imprisonment or life imprisonment if he is found guilty in the US, cultural authorities in the Cuban have not officially commented on the case.