Democracy activist Fidel García Roldán, who earlier this month was sentenced to 1 year in prison for the supposed crime of "hoarding," is well familiar with the absurdities of the Castro "justice" system and the horrors of the Castro gulag.
For instance, in February 2005, when he was a year into a 4-year sentence for being a "pre-criminal social danger," a prison "re-education specialist" tried to beat some nonsense into García by pushing him against a wall and hitting him repeatedly about the head.
In March 2006, when García was completing the second year of his 4-year sentence for being a "pre-criminal social danger" — the charge is an absurdity that bears repeating — U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart paid tribute to García from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives:
Mr. Garcia Roldan, despite being imprisoned, despite facing even more severe maltreatment in the inhuman gulag, continues to advocate for liberty. Mr. Garcia Roldan is a brilliant example of the heroism of the Cuban people. No matter how intense the repression, no matter how horrifically brutal the consequences of a dignified struggle for liberty, the totalitarian gulags are full of men and women of all backgrounds and ages who represent the best of the Cuban nation.
After being released, García resumed his activism, and the police, despite having what you might think was a more immediate concern — the devastation wrought by three hurricanes in 2008, resumed harassing him. In September of that year, police in Holguín arrested and detained García after he led an anti-government protest.
As for García's most recent trouble with the dictatorship, I couldn't find details of the "hoarding" charge; it's probably just something the dictatorship came up with to get García out of their way.
García was suppose to show up at a court in Manatí on Oct. 29 to begin serving a sentence of 1 year of "correctional work," but he was unable to be there because he didn't have the money needed to make the trip, according to a report posted at CubaNet.
When he finally made it to court on Nov. 3, an angry judge threw the book at García and ordered him to serve the sentence at El Típico prison in Las Tunas.
García did not seem surprised.
"This is just a dirty political maneuver by the police, who uses these fake and rigged trials to get rid of the men and women who decide to fight their lies," said he said.
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