Prosecutor requests up to 12 years in prison for Cubans who called for protest in Las Tunas.

In yet another violation of human rights, the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Santiago de Cuba is requesting 12 years of imprisonment for Ana Ibis Tristá Padilla from Las Tunas, accused of inciting marches and putting up posters against the regime.

According to Martí Noticias, in this same case, Félix Daniel Pérez Ruiz, 22 years old, is being prosecuted with a request for a seven-year prison sentence; Christian de Jesús Peña Aguilera, 21, is facing a request for a five-year sentence; and Jarol Varona Agüero, 49, is facing a potential sentence of ten years.

All accused of crimes of propaganda against the constitutional order and the Security of the State.

It should be noted that although the four individuals charged have residence in the capital of Tunas, the criminal proceedings are being carried out by the prosecutor's office in Santiago de Cuba because only in that city and in Havana are the courts for Crimes against State Security established.

Tristá Padilla, whose trial is scheduled for October 18 at the Provincial Court of Las Tunas, told Martí Noticias: “I was detained on November 7, and the first thing I was told was that I was being detained for having control over the people who put up posters here in Las Tunas. They also said that I was dedicated to calling the people to marches in the center of town, encouraging people to wear white clothing.”

The activist, currently under the precautionary measure of bail, opined that this process is "a strong punishment to show Cubans that here they are the ones in charge."

"But I think with the same conviction, just like my husband, that I am proud of him, just as he is of me," said the woman about Damián Hechavarría, a self-employed worker sentenced to seven years for protesting in the city of Las Tunas against the arbitrariness of state inspectors on April 21, 2021.

Activists Taimir García Meriño and Adrián Góngora were also convicted for that protest, where months before the 11J, chants of "Down with the dictatorship," "Enough with the dictatorship," and "Homeland and Life!” were heard.

In the new case, the public prosecutor claims that those involved called for a demonstration on May 14, 2023, in Vicente García Park in Las Tunas, "knowing that it would violate social order and public tranquility in the area."

Likewise, it asserts that those involved were maintaining relationships with terrorist groups and individuals based abroad.

"This is another way to crush, to oppress the Cuban who thinks differently, the Cuban who wants to be free. A dirty move, one they are accustomed to. But they will not intimidate or silence me; on the contrary, it gives me more strength, more courage, more firmness. I stand with my truth," stated the 34-year-old woman.

The prosecutor's office acknowledges that the action did not take place because it was prevented by Counterintelligence, which "was aware" of it, allegedly because it was a demonstration called for on social media.

On the social network Facebook, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) denounced the arbitrariness, mentioning that a sentence against Ana Ibis Trista Padilla, besides being unjust, would represent more suffering and pain for this family.

“These exemplary processes with prosecutorial requests exceeding ten years of imprisonment aim to intimidate, to instill fear in the population so that no one voices dissent, no one denounces the situation being experienced, and all of this must be viewed in the context of a dangerously worsening harassment and repression against political activists, civil society, and also independent journalists,” said Yaxis Cires, Director of Strategies of OCDH, to Martí Noticias.

A few days ago, a Cuban court rejected the appeal of five protesters from Caimanera, Guantánamo, who were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to eight years for their involvement in the 2023 protests.

According to the EFE agency, the dismissals, confirmed on Tuesday, add to a long list determined by the regime following the protests that have shaken the country in recent years.