Rejection of the appeal by young Cubans sentenced by a judge who requested asylum in the U.S.

The Provincial Court of Villa Clara rejected the appeal of four young Cubans convicted by Judge Melody González Pedraza, who recently sought asylum in the United States and revealed irregularities in the judicial process.

The appeal session, which took place on Thursday under strict security measures and with a notable police presence. In this, military personnel involved in the case testified, and the defense had requested that they do not appear.

At the end of the hearing, the Court confirmed the sentences despite allegations of procedural irregularities, reported Martí Noticias.

The young people, Andy Gabriel González Fuentes, Eddy Daniel Rodríguez Pérez, Luis Ernesto Medina Pedraza, and Adain Barreiro Pérez, were originally sentenced in May for the crime of assault, accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at police targets in November 2022.

The trial was presided over by Judge Melody González Pedraza, who in May requested asylum in the United States and reported having been pressured to convict the young people.

José Miguel Barreiro, brother of one of the accused, expressed his frustration with the restrictions imposed during the trial in statements to Martí Noticias.

He stated that despite requests from the defense for the involved military personnel not to appear in the case, they testified after a recess.

The situation of Judge González Pedraza has further complicated the context of the trial, after she moved to the United States and criticized the Cuban judicial system for its "double standards and weaknesses."

The confirmation of the sentences has been met with disapproval by the families of the convicted, who have denounced a rigged trial and a flagrant injustice.

Yannes Pérez, mother of Barreiro Pérez, described the process as a "sham" and criticized the absence of key figures during the hearing.