Related videos:
The political prisoner Oscar Corría Sánchez, a young man who served a sentence of three and a half years in prison for participating in the protests on July 11, 2021 in Contramaestre, Santiago de Cuba, was arrested again more than 20 days ago and has been on a hunger strike for almost a week, his family confirmed.
Corría, 25 years old, appeared at the police station in her locality on October 1 after receiving a summons, and was detained there, accused of "disobedience" and "contempt" after refusing to work for the State, her sister Mairelis Menéndez Sánchez reported on social media.
Ménendez reported in a Facebook post that in the PNR unit his brother was provoked and threatened by officers, and “for merely defending himself against their threats, he was mistreated, taken to the cells, and accused of contempt.”
"I wonder where the rights of the person who was attacked are; do we not have the right to defend ourselves verbally and without insults or threats?" she questioned.
He explained that Corría has been imprisoned for over 20 days and they were able to visit him last Thursday, but this Monday, his mother and she returned to the prison to bring him food, and there they learned that, for the past five days, he has been “on hunger strike, without eating or drinking water”.
“Doesn't your family have the right to know the situation in which our detained relative finds themselves? A mother torn apart by her wrongfully imprisoned son, a mother and two brothers devastated by their brother, once again, due to the injustices that are committed and the destruction of youth in this country,” she lamented, while demanding the release of the young man.
Corría had been released from Boniato prison on September 8, 2024, after fully serving the sentence imposed on him arbitrarily by the Cuban regime for exercising his citizen's right to protest.
In statements to Martí Noticias, Menéndez reported that since his brother's release from prison over a year ago, State Security and the Police have been harassing him and demanding that he integrate into the state labor system, and in retaliation for his refusal, they have fabricated this new accusation.
“Nothing more than not wanting to work for this communism, there you have it without evidence. Just for being from the July 11 movement, they continue to harass him, threatening him until now that he has been imprisoned,” the woman stated.
Martí Noticias reported that a police officer accused Corría of "disrupting public order within the unit and threatened to charge him with disobedience if he did not appear at the Labor Directorate."
The independent organizations Justifica 11J and Cubalex condemned the new arrest of Corría and demanded his immediate release.
Cubalex stated that Corría's case demonstrates the "ongoing persecution against political prisoners, who, even after serving their sentences, continue to be subjected to surveillance, harassment, and threats by the authorities."
For the NGO, such practices of the regime "display a pattern of prolonged repression that seeks to punish political dissent and deter future expressions of protest."
In the same vein, Justicia 11J warned that the new arrest of Corría reveals the “persistent harassment against those who were imprisoned for political reasons following the protests of 11J, subjected to reprisals, surveillance, and labor coercion even after serving their sentences.”
He recalled that the young man was prosecuted for his participation in the protests on July 11 and 12, 2021 in Contramaestre and held in the Boniato prison. The prosecution then requested an eight-year prison sentence for him for the charges of “continuing public disorder” and “assault,” based on the accusation of having attempted to strike an officer and throwing stones to evade arrest.
Filed under: