Uncommon Sense

Former Cuban prisoners of conscience demand right to travel overseas

Marth Beatriz Roque

Twelve former Cuban prisoners of conscience jailed during the "black spring" of 2003 still in Cuba are asking the regime to relax conditions of their paroles so they can travel overseas, according to martinoticias.com.

One of the 12, Martha Beatriz Roque, sent a letter this week to the Cuban justice ministry, asking officials that their right to travel be restored. She sent the letter on behalf of the 11 other former prisoners, who were released in 2010-11 under a deal negotiated with Cuba by the Catholic Church and the government of Spain. (Roque had been released earlier because of her poor health.)

The 11 were among the last prisoners released under the agreement because they had refused to take overseas exile as a condition of their release. As a condition of their parole, which the regime warned could be revoked at any time, they have not been allowed to leave the island to receive needed medical care or for other reasons.

The other 11 prisoners are Arnaldo Ramos Lauzurique, Jorge Olivera Castillo, Héctor Fernando Maseda Gutiérrez, Ángel Juan Moya Acosta, Oscar Elías Biscet González, Jose Daniel Ferrer García, Eduardo Díaz Fleitas, Iván Hernández Carrillo, Félix Navarro Rodríguez, Diosdado González Marrero and Librado Ricardo Linares García.

MartiNoticias.com has more.

Cuban prisoner of conscience Ivan Fernandez Depestre on hunger strike

Ivan Fernandez Depestre

Cuban prisoner of conscience Ivan Fernandez Depestre has been on hunger strike since Oct. 9, about the time he was severely beaten by senior guards at the Guamajal prison and thrown into a punishment cell, according to the Cuban Democratic Directorate.

The report was based on information provided by Cuban activist Yris Pérez Aguilera, of the Rosa Parks Feminist Movement for Civil Rights.

"We hold the Castro regime responsible for happens to Ivan Fernandez Depestre," Perez Aguilera said.

Amnesty International recognized Fernandez as a prisoner of conscience in September 2013, soon after he was found to be a "pre-criminal social danger" by a Castro court and sentenced to three years in prison. He had been arrested on July 30, 2013, while participating in an anti-government protest in the town of Placetas.

“Iván Fernández Depestre is being held only because he holds opinions contrary to those of the Cuban authorities. He must be released immediately and unconditionally,” Javier Zúñiga, a special advisor for Amnesty International, said in an AI news release announcing the group's designation of Fernandez as a prisoner of conscience.

'We won, and I'm still in the fight,' says Cuban ex-political prisoner Marcelino Abreu after release

Marcelino Abreu

Marcelino Abreu, who earlier this month started a hunger strike to force the Castro regime to keep an earlier promise to release him, has won his freedom.

Abreu was released Friday afternoon and just before midnight he was back in his home in Caibarién, in Villa Clara province, according to a report posted by the Cuban Institute for the Freedom of Expression and the Press. 

"We won, and I'm still in the fight," Abreu said.

Abreu was arrested Aug. 13, 2012 -- Fidel Castro's birthday -- after the police caught him distributing anti-government leaflets and shouting anti-Castro slogans.

It wasn't until more than a year later, on Aug. 29, 2013, that Abreu was tried, convicted of bogus charges of "public disorder" and "disrespecting" Fidel Castro -- yes, the latter is a real "crime" in Cuba -- and sentenced to 4 years in prison.

His jailers in June promised Abreu that he would be released in August, which was enough to convince him to end a lengthy hunger strike. The promised release date was later delayed until September, then to Oct. 10.

When that date came and went, Abreu on Oct. 18 started another hunger strike.

"I returned to my home in good spirits," Abreu said. "I won my freedom and proved that an injustice was done to me," referring to the fact that he was tried on false charges.

Abreu vowed to resume the struggle for freedom in Cuba.

Cuban Ladies In White, other activists arrested as they support political prisoner Sonia Garro

The Castro dictatorship last week postponed for the third time the trial of Cuban political prisoner Sonia Garro Alfonso, her husband Ramon Munoz and another activist, who were arrested in March 2012 just before the visit to Cuba of Pope Benedict XVI.

Just the same, other Ladies In White and other activists proceeded with a nationwide series of vigils outside Cuban courthouses on behalf of Garro and the others. The regime responded by making numerous arrests.

Their trial has been rescheduled for Nov. 7.

Cuban political prisoner Angel Remon, aka "El Critico" declares hunger, thirst strike

El Critico

Imprisoned Cuban opposition activist and rap singer Angel Yunier Remon Arzuaga, who last week was sentenced to 6 years in prison, has started a hunger and thirst strike to protest his imprisonment.

Karen Caballero, with martinoticias.com, has the story:

Cuban political prisoner Sonia Garro's trial postponed once again by Castro regime

Sonia Garro Alfonso

Sonia Garro Alfonso, her husband Ramon Munoz another activist have been unjustly imprisoned since March 2012, when they were arrested just before the visit to Cuba of Pope Benedict XVI. Their trial has once again been postponed by the Castro regime, perhaps frightened by the increased attention, in Cuba and elsewhere, that the case has received.

Cuban Ladies In White defy Castro on another Sunday of repression

Cuban pastor Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso threatened with prosecution

Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso

From Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW):

Cuba: Baptist Pastor Threatened With Criminal Charges 

Cuban Baptist pastor and religious freedom activist Reverend Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso has received official notice that he may face criminal charges if he does not break ties with “counter-revolutionary elements” in and outside of Cuba,  and if he does not stop giving radio interviews. His wife, Yoaxis Marcheco Suarez, was summoned for an interview with security services on 15 October.

Reverend Mario Felix Lleonart Barroso, a prominent religious freedom activist and church leader, was officially summoned to the State Security Unit in Camajuani, Villa Clara on 8 October. He was threatened with arrest if he did not appear. At the unit a Lieutenant Colonel read out an Official Warning or “Acta de Advertencia”, a document that can be used as justification for future arrests and criminal charges. Two witnesses, whom the pastor did not recognize, were present and offered testimony of his “counter-revolutionary” links. This is the third time that government agents have unsuccessfully attempted to pressure Reverend Lleonart Barroso into signing an Acta de Advertencia.

According to Reverend Lleonart Barroso, who leads the Ebenezer Baptist Church in the town of Taguayabon in Villa Clara Province, and who is a member of the Western Baptist Convention, one of the largest registered religious organisations on the island, the Lieutenant Colonel told him verbally that the government was unhappy about the pastor’s recent visit to the eastern part of the country. The official added that if the pastor did not change his behaviour soon, a criminal case would “probably be filed.”

The purpose of Reverend Lleonart Barroso’s visit was to meet with church leaders who had reported violations of religious freedom. Reverend Lleonart Barroso met with Pastor Yiorvis Denis, the leader of a church in Camaguey which has come under repeated threat of forced closure and confiscation of property. He also met with Pastor Esmir Torreblanca, the leader of a large church in Santiago that was razed by the government in July.

Reverend Lleonart Barroso told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), “I intend to continue on with my activities in the defense of religious freedom in Cuba.”

Tired of waiting for promised release, Cuban political prisoner Marceliino Abreu starts new hunger strike

Marcelino Abreu

Tired of waiting for the Castro dictatorship to deliver on its promise to release him, Cuban political prisoner Marcelino Abreu has started a new hunger strike.

His jailers in June promised Abreu that he would be released in August, which was enough to convince him to end a lengthy hunger strike. The promised release date was later delayed until September, then to Oct. 10.

Still in patient, and his patience exhausted, Abreu, who is being held in a military hospital, on Friday started a new hunger strike, even though his condition is still weakened after his previous protest.

Abreu was arrested Aug. 13, 2012 -- Fidel Castro's birthday -- after the police caught him distributing anti-government leaflets and shouting anti-Castro slogans.

It wasn't until more than a year later, on Aug. 29, 2013, that Abreu was tried, convicted of bogus charges of "public disorder" and "disrespecting" Fidel Castro -- yes, the latter is a real "crime" in Cuba -- and sentenced to 4 years in prison.

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Castro regime lies to Cuban political prisoner Marcelino Abreu, fails to release him as promised

Imprisoned Cuban rap singer 'El Critico' sentenced to 6 years in prison

Angel Yunier Remon, "El Critico"

Imprisoned Cuban rap singer/political activist Angel Yunier "El Critico" Remon has been sentenced to 6 years in prison. El Critico and several family members had been in jail since March 26, 2013, after they were arrested when a Castroite mob attacked them during an "act of repudiation."

The result of the case against El Critico, an activist with the Patriotic Union of Cuba, or UNPACU,  was never in doubt.

Also sentenced as part of the case were:

• Alexander Otero Rodríguez, 5 years.
• Rudisnei Villavicencio Figueredo, 4 years.
• Yaquelin Garcia Jaens, a 4-year suspended sentence.