Appeal rejected: Activist who posed with the Cuban flag will serve a three-year prison sentence

The appeal presented by the political prisonerAniette González García, sentenced to three years in prison for posing with the Cuban flag, was rejected this Saturday by the provincial court of Camagüey.

The municipal instance of that justice body had sentenced González for the alleged crime of "outrage to national symbols" in March 2023.

The appeal was based on the fact that the municipal court erred in the classification of the crime and in the evaluation of the evidence, arguments that were denied by the provincial court, which accepted as true the accusations that the young woman was naked under the flag. , reportedMartí News.

González was arrested on March 23 of last year by State Security in the province of Camagüey after publishing some images of herself wrapped in the flag on Facebook.

The photos were part of the initiative#LaBanderaEsDeTodos, in support of the independent artistLuis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who was sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly committing the same crime.

Aniette Ginesta González, daughter of the political prisoner, announced inFacebook that in that same month they presented the appeal and that last Saturday they were notified of the rejection.

“Of course we were at the expense of it being that way, the question is why? For thinking contrary to what the Cuban regime wants? Because of the doubt as to whether there was clothing under the flag or not? Based on a doubt? 3 years?” Ginesta expressed indignantly, while questioning the justice of the regime in her mother's case.

“No one was present when the photos in question were taken, how could anyone be sure if there was something more than the skin underneath?” challenged the young girl.

Ginesta questioned the true reasons for her mother's conviction: "I wonder if everyone who defends the dome that covers us really sees my mother's photos as something offensive and at the same time I wonder why there is no one in the courts who "Dare to say 'It doesn't offend me.'"

“It is judged based on a doubt and the slightest probability that reality is found on the other side of the coin is not analyzed. "Is the blinder so big that we can't turn the other way?" lamented the young woman.

“Ordinary Cuban, until when? With what you tolerate you show people how to treat you,” the girl stressed.

Political prisoners in Cuba They serve “exemplary” sentences, a resource of the regime to silence the voices that denounce crimes and demand social improvements.

For example, the dissident and co-author of the topic “Homeland and Life”, Maykel Osorbo was sentenced to nine years in prison, while the artistLuis Manuel Otero Alcántara He is serving a five-year sentence.

The Cuban oppositionJose Daniel Ferrer He survives in the Mar Verde prison, in Santiago de Cuba, for being one of the voices that most criticizes the regime.