Cuban courts have wrapped up the hearing phase of six mass trials for people accused of involvement in the largest and most unruly protests on the island in decades, leaving more than 100 defendants awaiting potentially heavy sentences.
Relatives of defendants and activists following the trials in several cities across the island — the last of which concluded this week — said prosecutors were seeking sentences of up to 30 years in prison for crimes including sedition, public disorder and attacks. No date has been announced for sentencing.
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Cuban courts have wrapped up the hearing phase of six mass trials for people accused of involvement in the largest and most unruly protests on the island in decades, leaving more than 100 defendants awaiting potentially heavy sentences.
At least one person died and several shops and vehicles were vandalized or burned. Officials have not said how many people were detained, but the organization Justice 11J, created to track the cases, has registered 1,300 arrests and said more than 400 so far have been tried.
The extended Román family accounted for at least six of the arrested following the July 12 protests in Havana's La Guinera neighborhood in which one demonstrator died. All were detained at the same home two days after the protests.
Three cousins also were detained, one of them among the current defendants. Another of the cousins, Odlanier Rodríguez, was freed after 22 days in prison after being fined the equivalent of $83.
Many of the protesters had no previous record of political activism and there appeared to be no clear leadership of the protests, though the government has accused U.S.-based opposition groups of trying to organize demonstrations with a social media campaign.
He said it seemed to him that people joined in because they were tired of long lines and shortages of food.
He said that charges of sedition were applied in La Güinera, where there were no cases of looting, while no such charges were lodged in the central province of Matanzas, where there were cases of patrol cars overturned.
Maria Carla Milan Ramos, wife of Yosney Emilio Román Rodríguez, who is in prison with his two siblings, accused of participating in the recent protests against the government, looks at her cell phone in the patio of their home in the La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)
Thousands of Cubans took to the street in several cities on July 11 and 12 to protest shortages of goods, power blackouts and economic hardship — with some also calling for a change in government.
Odlanier Santiago Rodríguez, center, who was accused of participating in the recent anti-government protests and who was released after 22 days in prison, poses with his uncle Emilio Roman, left, and his daughter-in-law María Carla Milán Ramos, as they show photos of Roman´s three children who are still in prison accused of participating in the recent protets against the government, in the La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)
At least one person died and several shops and vehicles were vandalized or burned. Officials have not said how many people were detained, but the organization Justice 11J, created to track the cases, has registered 1,300 arrests and said more than 400 so far have been tried.
Officials said in August that there had been 23 summary trials of 67 defendants on lesser charges.
Groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused the government of responding to mostly peaceful protests with arbitrary arrests and crackdowns meant to silence dissent, which the government disputes.
Odlanier Santiago Rodríguez, who was accused of participating in the recent protests against the government and released after 22 days in prison, waits by the door of his home in La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)
The extended Román family accounted for at least six of the arrested following the July 12 protests in Havana's La Guinera neighborhood in which one demonstrator died. All were detained at the same home two days after the protests.
None of them had previous problems with authorities, according to María Carla Milán, the wife of Yosney Román, who faces a possible 20-year sentence.
Yosney, a 25-year-old laborer, and his 18-year-old brother Emiyoslán were defendants in one of the Havana trials, while their sister Mackyanis, 24, has not yet been given a court date.
Emilio Roman who has his three children in prison accused of participating in the recent protests against the government, poses for a photo in the room of two of his children, at their home in the La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)
Three cousins also were detained, one of them among the current defendants. Another of the cousins, Odlanier Rodríguez, was freed after 22 days in prison after being fined the equivalent of $83.
During the most recent trial, the defendants “recognized that it was a mistake to have thrown rocks at the police,” said Milán, who attended the hearing. “They repented what they had done. They got caught up in the excitement. They don't have any criminal record and they aren't criminals. They had never had problems before.”
“But they are very young," she added. “This number of years (sought by prosecutors) is an abuse.”
María Carla Milan Ramos shows a photo on her mobile phone of her husband with his siblings, who are all in prison accused of participating in the recent protests against the government, at their home in La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)
Many of the protesters had no previous record of political activism and there appeared to be no clear leadership of the protests, though the government has accused U.S.-based opposition groups of trying to organize demonstrations with a social media campaign.
The father of the Román siblings, Emilio Román, said none of the six members of the family had any political involvement.
“I had never seen anything like that (demonstration)," said Rodríguez, the cousin. “I stopped on the corner to watch,.”
A teddy bear rests on the bed of Mackyanis Yosney Romam Rodriguez who is in prison along with her two brothers, accused of participating in the recent protests against the government, at their home in La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)
He said it seemed to him that people joined in because they were tired of long lines and shortages of food.
Cuban authorities acknowledged that some complaints were justified and President Miguel Díaz-Canel visited La Guinera, where officials promised additional social programs in the wake of the protests.
Salomé García. an activist with Justice 11J, said the trials were meant to be “exemplary" since only a small percentage of the protesters face severe charges.
Emilio Román, right, father of two young men and a daughter who are in prison accused of participating in the recent protests against the government, poses with his daughter-in-law María Carla Milan Ramos at their home in the La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)
He said that charges of sedition were applied in La Güinera, where there were no cases of looting, while no such charges were lodged in the central province of Matanzas, where there were cases of patrol cars overturned.
An old photo from the Quinceañera celebration of Mackyanis Yosney Romam Rodríguez, left, who is in prison along with her two brothers, accused of participating in the recent protests against the government, is seen on the wall in her home in the La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba , Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)
Maria Carla Milan Ramos, wife of Yosney Emilio Román Rodríguez, who is in prison with his two siblings, accused of participating in the recent protests against the government, looks at her cell phone in the patio of their home in the La Guinera neighborhood of Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Six months after surprising protests against the Cuban government, more than 50 protesters who have been charged with sedition are headed to trial and could face sentences of up to 30 years in prison. (AP PhotoRamon Espinosa)