The defendants argued, among other things, that they should not have been tried for the crime of sedition
Protesters in front of the Institute of Radio and Television (ICRT) while being loaded onto a truck on a street in Havana (EFE/Ernesto Mastrascusa/Archivo)
The Supreme People’s Court of Cuba (TSJ) reduced the prison sentences of 13 protesters by up to 10 years of the anti-government protests of last July 11 and changed another 2 to a correctional labor regime (in one case without internment).
This review is the first sentence of the TSJ before the appeal of a group of convicts for the events in the popular neighborhood of La Güinera, in Havana. The new sentence, to which the EFE agency had access, is final and sets prison sentences for a total of 179 years, with individual cases up to 22 years.
The Supreme Court ruling resolves an appeal filed by the 15 defendants, who argued -among other things- that they should not have been tried for the crime of sedition. Some had been sentenced by the People’s Provincial Court of Havana in the first instance to sentences of up to 30 years in prison.
Some of the protesters argued that they were should have been prosecuted for crimes such as “public disorder”, while others argued that there was a “breach of procedural formalities” and “individual guarantees”during their trials.
According to the assessments of the Supreme Court, the provincial court “was not wise” in not contemplating the imposition of the sentences that nine of the defendants recognized the facts and collaborated in their clarification.
Police officers arrest a man when people demonstrate on a street on July 11, 2021 in Havana (EFE/Ernesto Mastrascusa/Archivo)
Similarly, the magistrates indicated that “viewing the facts in their entirety” they qualify the sentences in the first instance as “extremely rigorous” and accept the “ reason for the appeal requesting generosity” in the case of 11 of those sanctioned.
The trials against the July 11 protesters have been taking place in Cuba since the end of 2021. The NGO Justicia 11J placed this week at 564 the number of people tried for these protests.
The Attorney General’s Office assured in January that they have been prosecuted for the protests to 790 people, of whom 55 are between 16 and 17 years old. The minimum criminal age in Cuba is 16.
Relatives of those convicted and non-governmental organizations have criticized the trial, alleging lack of guarantees, fabrication of evidence and high sentences< /b>.
Foreign media do not have access to trials. Amnesty International requested to be able to attend the trials.
The NGO Prisoners Defenders indicates that at least 842 people were in prison at the end of 2021 the island for political reasons, mostly due to the events of July 11.
(With information from EFE)