Wife and children of the political prisonerJose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the oppositionPatriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), were prevented from visiting him on his 52nd birthday in the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba.
“José Daniel Ferrer's wife and children remain in front of the Mar Verde prison waiting to see him on his birthday,” he reported this Friday.Ana Belkis Ferrer García, sister of the opposition leader.
In a Facebook post, the activist stated that “the family went to visit him and bring him a special lunch for the occasion,” but the prison authorities denied his wife and children the right to visit and only agreed to receive the food they brought him. to the prisoner of conscience.
“They stayed until 9 at night. The dictatorship's hitmen did not let him see José Daniel. They were denied a right that they have. They only admitted food,” explained Ana Belkis, who described her brother as a fighter against the dictatorship for more than half of his life.
For her part, Ferrer's wife, activist Nelva Ismaray Ortega Tamayo, also held a live interview with José Daniel's daughter and young son, standing in front of the Mar Verde prison waiting for permission to visit, which was never granted. Occurred.
“It's been 17 days since we saw him for two minutes”said Ortega Tamayo, who at the beginning of July reported that Ferrer had not received visits or phone calls from her relatives for more than a month, which prompted herto request a habeas corpus from the authorities, due to fear for the physical integrity of the opponent, after 38 days "disappeared."
Determined to demand the right of the prisoner and his family to have visits and telephone contacts, Ferrer's wife reported that she and the children were removed from the prison waiting room after being denied a meeting with the opposition leader.
In a direct message, the activist stated that she had been outside the Mar Verde prison for more than five hours, where - according to Ana Belkis - they remained until 9 at night without being able to see the UNPACU leader on his birthday. .
“We know that the dictatorship is capable of anything. They have tried to murder my brother at least three or four times. Now they are slowly murdering him in prison. He is buried alive and dying slowly,” said Ana Belkis.
Ferrer, one of the prisoners of the 2003 repressive wave, known as Black Spring, was one of the few who did not accept going into exile in exchange for his release. His activism since then has cost him several imprisonments, the last of which occurred duringthe historic 11J protests in Cuba, when he left his house with the intention of joining the peaceful demonstrations carried out by the people of Santiago.
After his last arrest and after a month of interrogations in State Security offices, Ferrer was returned to prison under the justification of a revocation of “subsidiary sanction of limitation of freedom imposed in case 12 of 2020”,for which he must serve a sentence of 4 years remaining from the “subsidized” sanction.
“They keep him confined in an isolation cell, without taking him out into the sun, without clothes (in underwear and a T-shirt), without mosquito nets… subjected to physical and psychological torture, all because of the fear they have of human rights defenders,” he indicated. this Friday his sister, demanding once again his release and that of the more than a thousand political prisoners of the Cuban regime.
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