The Cienfuegos Prosecutor's Office has requested a sentence of two years and six months in prison for José Manuel Barreiro Rouco, accused of "disparaging the dignity of high officials" after sharing degrading images of Miguel Díaz-Canel, Raúl Castro, and Fidel Castro in a private WhatsApp group called "Family."
According to the text of the ruling shared on Facebook by his nephew Jam Pérez Aguiar, Barreiro was also charged with contempt and currency trafficking, offenses that he described as "fabricated" and which were refuted during his uncle's defense.
The document states that between March 1 and June 18, 2023, Barreiro accumulated numerous images on his mobile phone that encouraged the desire to end the life of Raúl Castro, along with the notion that if the population took to the streets, the leaders of the armed forces in the country would lose their lives.
The text of the ruling also indicated that the accused intended to "spread them to a larger number of individuals, so that they could reproduce and disseminate them"; however, the prosecution admitted that the images were shared with "the 17 members of the group known as 'Family' through the Messenger application."
The implausible accusation has sparked numerous reactions among his family members on social media, who question the transparency of the Cuban judicial system, accusing it of being a tool of the regime, devoid of impartiality and justice.
Pérez, the nephew of the accused, reported that on June 15, 2023, his uncle was arrested in a dramatic operation "worthy of a high-ranking figure in international organized crime," which included a search.
"Initially accused of belonging to a group dedicated to subverting the constitutional order in Cuba," Pérez noted, who recounted that after proving his uncle's innocence, "he was transferred to Ariza prison until December 30, when his detention was changed to house arrest."
At home, Barreiro was notified that he was being charged with contempt and currency trafficking, a claim he deemed "fraught with lies, manipulations, and omissions."
Abraham Jesús, another nephew of the accused, challenged several points of the prosecution's case in a Facebook post. First, he clarified that the private group, which included some close friends, was not on Messenger, as claimed, but rather on WhatsApp.
"It's true that in the 'family' group we shared content that wasn't aligned with the system," he stated. However, he clarified that "the group, as its name suggests, is strictly 'familial' and not intended for subversion, as the prosecution claimed."
He also pointed out that "no one is authorized to violate the privacy and intimacy of a family," adding that "the intimate, private, and strictly familial nature of the group is omitted" in the document issued by the prosecutor's office.
Finally, he questioned the regime's accusation against his uncle, asking: "Who was he inciting? His brothers? His adolescent nephews? His daughter? His 70-year-old aunt? His cousin?" He was referring to the absurd claim that Barreiro, through a private group, was attempting to incite uprisings, murders, and lynchings of government leaders and other officials.
Daime Ortega González, the daughter of the accused, also raised her voice on social media to denounce the crimes the regime has committed against her father for “expressing his thoughts freely, without disrespecting anyone and from a place of reason and calm.”
Ortega reported that on Monday the trial against his father was "finally" held, "after 16 months of deprivation of liberty, seven in prison and nine under house arrest."
Regarding her father and the judicial process he has been subjected to, the young woman stated: “He has been repressed, abused, and imprisoned without having committed any crime or violated any norms outlined in the Constitution.”
Finally, he stated: "All of his rights, both civic and constitutional, have been violated; he was denied all types of resources (bail, habeas corpus, judicial review) for seven months without any grounds for keeping him in prison."
The case of Barreiro has sparked numerous reflections among Cuban activists and human rights defenders.
Journalist José Raúl Gallego described this case on Facebook as a prime example of what a dictatorship is capable of doing.
“There’s no need to go to Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, or anywhere else to exemplify what it means to live in blatant violation of the most basic human rights,” noted Gallego.
"And the saddest part is that this extreme abuse is not an exception; it is the norm that has been enforced for 65 years, during which tens of thousands have been imprisoned, expelled, sanctioned, beaten, and threatened for a simple comment, a joke, or for voicing what many people think, whether out loud or quietly," noted the journalist, who feels great indignation for the abuse that Barreiro has suffered.
News portals like CubaNet have also covered this case: “At around 53 years old and a barber by profession, José Manuel Barreiro Rouco is a recognized activist in Aguada de Pasajeros, Cienfuegos province.”
According to the website, Barreiro became associated with the independent organization Movimiento Ciudadano Reflexión y Conciliación, under the leadership of the opposition figure Juan Alberto de la Nuez Ramírez, since its founding in 2010.
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