The prosecutor of Matanzas, Ana Lilian Caballero Arango, and the PNR officer María Juantorena Herrera have been included in the list of Cuban Repressors for their involvement in the case of academics Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Pantoja Torres.
Caballero Arango is accused of unjustly requesting four and three years of imprisonment, respectively, to be replaced by corrective work without confinement, for dissident academics, reported the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FHRC).
The prosecutor relies on a version filled with falsehoods about the arbitrary detention of the two activists as they were heading to Havana on June 18, 2024, to carry out their peaceful protest by sitting in a park on the 18th of each month, the information specifies.
Juantorena brutally attacked "the dissenting intellectuals after intercepting on May 18, 2024, at the Bacunayagua checkpoint the rental car in which the two historians were traveling from Matanzas to Havana."
Prosecutor requests four years in prison
The Cuban Prosecutor's Office requested a four-year sentence of corrective labor without internment for the intellectual and activist Alina Bárbara López Hernández, accused of contempt, disobedience, and assault, following her arrest on June 18, 2024.
That day, López Hernández and the anthropologist and also activist Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres were heading to Havana to participate in a peaceful protest when they were intercepted by the police in Matanzas.
The prosecutor in the case, Ana Lilian Caballero Arango, presented a comprehensive report in which she also requests three years of alternative punishment for Pantoja for the crime of assault.
Additionally, they must pay alleged material damages to a police officer: 650 CUP from López Hernández for the damage to her uniform, and 500 CUP from Pantoja for the replacement of artificial hair extensions for the officer.
Alina describes the tax file as a "dramatic script" filled with falsehoods, whose aim is to deny the political nature of the case.
In an extensive text published on Facebook, the historian claims that both she and Pantoja were victims of police violence, which resulted in medically documented physical injuries, but were not considered in the process.
“We were the ones who were beaten, violated, and treated like animals. That day I feared for my life...,” recounts López Hernández, who was later diagnosed with post-traumatic labyrinthitis. Pantoja, for her part, suffered chest contusions after being immobilized by the same officer.
In her statement, she assaults the attempt to depoliticize the case: “The prosecutor aims to strip what happened of its political nature, which is more than evident and reveals a state that, through violence, hinders the exercise of constitutional rights.”
The charges do not mention at any point that both women were on their way to exercise their right to peaceful protest.
Instead, they are described as the main characters in a traffic altercation, with versions that López deems "implausible" and "absurd."
Despite having a recognized intellectual background, the two are facing a legal process that, they claim, seeks to punish their civic activism and send a deterrent message to those who challenge the system.
The trial does not have a date yet, but López has warned that "we will not be alone on the bench: it will be the 2019 Constitution that will once again stand as the accused," referring to the contradiction between the rights recognized by the Constitution and their practical application under a dictatorship.
The case generated reactions among activists and human rights defenders both on and off the Island, who warn that this form of criminalizing dissent undermines the international commitments made by the Cuban state.
"Dictatorships cannot disguise themselves as democracies, no matter how hard they try," stated López Hernández, making his stance on peaceful resistance clear in the face of what he considers a covert political trial.
The trial against the two intellectuals will take place in the People's Municipal Court of Matanzas.
This will not be the first time that the prominent academic finds herself in the defendant's chair.
In November 2023, she was brought to trial for an alleged offense of disobedience, after she appeared in April of that year with a sign at the central park of Matanzas to demand the release of the writer and journalist Jorge Fernández Era.
In the process, she was found guilty and ordered to pay a fine.
Frequently Asked Questions about Repression in Cuba and the Case of Alina Bárbara López
Who are Ana Lilian Caballero Arango and María Juantorena Herrera?
Ana Lilian Caballero Arango is the prosecutor of Matanzas accused of requesting disproportionate sanctions against the dissident academics Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Pantoja Torres. María Juantorena Herrera is an officer of the Revolutionary National Police involved in the assault on these intellectuals. Both have been included in the list of Cuban Repressors by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba due to their involvement in the case of the activists.
What happened in the case of Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Pantoja Torres?
On June 18, 2024, Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Pantoja Torres were arbitrarily detained by the police in Matanzas while on their way to Havana to participate in a peaceful protest. The Cuban Prosecutor’s Office has requested corrective work sanctions without imprisonment for both, based on accusations of contempt, disobedience, and assault. The academics claim they were victims of police violence and that the judicial process aims to criminalize their civic activism.
Why is Alina Bárbara López's case considered a political trial?
Alina Bárbara López and other activists believe that the trial is an attempt to depoliticize and criminalize dissent by using the judicial system to punish critics of the regime. The charges overlook the fact that the academics were exercising their right to protest peacefully and frame them as the instigators of a road altercation, which is seen as a distortion of the facts aimed at silencing opposing voices.
What is the stance of the international community regarding the case?
The case has generated reactions from activists and human rights defenders both within and outside of Cuba, who warn that the criminalization of dissent undermines the international commitments made by the Cuban state. International attention has focused on the need to protect human rights on the island, particularly regarding freedom of expression and the protection of activists.
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