The judicial authorities of the dictatorship removed the rapper’s lawyer -co-author of the song Patria y Vida- two days before the trial and, according to dissident activists, , the defender who took the case did not present witnesses
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The artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo were arrested by the Cuban dictatorship
The trial behind closed doors against opposition artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel “Osorbo” Castilloconcluded on Tuesday with activists denouncing that the rapper’s lawyer was removed from the case two days earlier and that the new defender did not bring witnesses.
< b>“Less than 72 hours before the trial, the lawyer arrived saying (…) that the firm had restricted her trials until August 1st and therefore she would not be able to attend Maykel’s trial”, told the agency AFP Anamely Ramos, an activist who lives in Miami who says she was closely involved in the preparation of the case with the defender and the mother of the rapper’s daughter.
“Maykel practically had to defend himself” , he said in a WhatsApp message after communicating with the ex-partner of “Osorbo”, who was present at the trial.
The second hearing of the process that began on Monday took place amid of a more discreet security operation than the day before in the People’s Municipal Court of Marianao, to which only some relatives of the two artists and three other people also tried in the same legal case had access.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch demanded the Cuban authorities last week for the “immediate” and “unconditional” release of the two artists, while the United States Department of State’s Office for Human Rights and Democracy expressed outrage at the trial on Friday.< /p>
According to HRW, the accusations and trials against them are “unfounded”and they are part of a campaign “to persecute artists, intellectuals and human rights defenders related to the historic protests against the July 11 dictatorship that devastated the island last year.”
The The trial against Cuban opposition artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo (Osorbo) began on Monday in a court in Havana, without allowing access to six diplomats who requested to attend the hearing (AFP)
“His art and activism have been denigrated by the Cuban dictatorship. In the last four years, Otero Alcántara has been the object of constant harassment and dozens of arbitrary arrests. He was imprisoned for the last time on July 11, 2021, after announcing on social media that he would join the nationwide protests,” HRW detailed about the plastic and visual artist who was recently selected among the 100 people most influential people in the world by Time magazine.
The process is related to an incident that occurred on April 4, 2021, when “Osorbo”, 39, struggled with police when they tried to arrest him for responding in a bad way.
Agree With the file prepared by the Cuban authorities, “Osorbo” Castillo “tried to take the gun” from one of the agents and kicked him. The document indicates that with the help of three other accused persons he freed himself from the uniformed men and that later he went, with a wife still hanging from one wrist, to the house of Otero Alcántara in San Isidro, a poor neighborhood in Old Havana.< /p>
That afternoon dozens of neighbors took to the streets to sing the theme Patria y Vida, a very unusual expression of protest in Cuba. “Osorbo” is co-author of that censored song in Cuba and winner of the Latin Grammy.
The prosecutor requested seven years behind bars for Otero Alcántara, arrested on July 11, 2021, for incitement to commit a crime, aggravated contempt and public disorder .
While for “Osorbo” Castillo, incarcerated since May 18, 2021, the prosecution requested 10 years in prison for the crimes of attack, public disorder and escape of prisoners or detainees.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) “strongly” condemned this Tuesday the trial against the artists and opponents, a process that, according to the organization, is part of a “wider campaign by the Cuban regime to persecute to artists, intellectuals and defenders of human rights.”
The The Cuban dictatorship intensified the persecution against the opposition after the massive protests last year (EFE/Ernesto Mastrascusa)
“Luis Manuel and Maykel have managed to inspire millions of Cubans to stand up to a regime that has tried -unsuccessfully- to crush their spirits for more than six decades,” Javier El-Hage said in a statement. , legal director of HRF.
“Now Cuba’s totalitarian dictatorship wants to make an example of these two pro-democracy heroes by offering them the same cruel treatment it has offered so many before them: leave Cuba or face years in prison,” he added. .
This Monday, members of the Cuban exile community and members of the MSI marched in Miami to express their support for Otero Alcántara and “Osorbo”.
The walk, which was attended by “El Funky”, one of the interpreters of the song “Patria y Vida”, began with a “human chain” in the Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre, patron of Cuba, and continued to the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora.
Yoslán Martínez, cousin of “Osorbo”, asked during the march “to be released , please, and be calm…”, according to statements collected by Univision.
“This #UnfairTrial once again demonstrates the violation of human rights in #Cuba. We demand the release of #LuisMa and #MaykelOsorbo”, the MSI, made up of artists, audiovisual producers, musicians, poets, producers, activists, and journalists, wrote on Twitter.
(With information from AFP and EFE)