A post earlier this week detailed how three Cuban dissidents were detained, while trying to visit the hospitalized son of political prisoner José Antonio Mola Porro.
Cuban Democratic Directorate has more details on what happened:
Human rights activists who were visiting Michael Mola, son of political prisoner José Antonio Mola Porro, at the Provincial Hospital Amalia Simoni, confronted a group of soldiers who arrived harassing them at the young man’s hospital room, with shouts of “Long live human rights, long live democracy, and long live Jesus Christ!”Juan Carlos González Leiva, president of the Cuban Foundation for Human Rights (FCDDHH) and secretary of the Human Rights Rapporteur Council of Cuba, Eisy Marrero Marrero, national treasurer of the FCDDHH, Luis Esteban Espinosa Echemendía, independent journalist, Raúl Federico Caballero, human rights activist from Camagüey, and Jorge Luis Suárez Varona, former political prisoner, were with Michael Mola when military officials entered the room and tried to take González Leiva’s video camera, device he was using at the time to film an interview with Mola Porro’s son. When González Leiva did not let them take it, the officials detained him along with Luis Esteban Espinosa Echemendía and Esiy Marrero Marrero, and were taken to the military hospital at this place.
There, six military officials savagely beat the three activists, took their personal belongings (including the video camera) and transferred them by force to the Camagüey police unit, where they were locked up for three hours in a dungeon full of excrement and urine. The three activists continued shouting pro-democracy slogans from the dungeon.
González Leiva at this moment is suffering from hematomas all over his body, an inflamed shoulder, and bruises on his head, all these given by the prison military officials.
“I hold responsible the Camagüey State Security for this beating, who gave the orders. ... I told them that I would call the internal dissident movement to stand firmly before then Camagüey police if they did not return my belongings,” expressed González Leiva to the Cuban Democratic Directorate on a telephone conversation.
Upon hearing this, the police returned his belongings and they were freed. The three activists were at this province visiting former political prisoners who were recently freed upon completing their sentences and the Ladies in White from Camagüey.
José Antonio Mola Porro, Michael’s father, is currently in poor state of health and without proper medical attention at Kilo 9 prison in Camagüey.
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