Trial against the independent artist Nando Obdc concludes: “It was a farce.”

The trial against the Cuban independent artist Fernando Almenares Rivera, known as Nando Obdc, took place on November 26 and has concluded for sentencing.

“Nando OBDC was imprisoned on December 31, 2024, his home was raided, and the only evidence they found against him at that time was a Cuban flag,” the Cuban Youth Dialogue Table reported, which has been following the case.

The independent organization explained that for almost a year, "the artist has remained in prison without any guarantees of rights and has undergone several transfers to different prisons, as well as various forms of torture."

"As we expected, the trial was a farce where evidence was discussed that was never presented, along with other evidence requested by the defense that simply was not carried out because it would demonstrate that the story told by state security is a great lie," they stated.

They also reported that "The lawyer demonstrated the bad intent of the prosecution because although Nando OBDC was exonerated from the first charge, they insisted on finding other reasons to keep him in prison."

The Dialogue Table explained that one of the resources to criminalize Nando OBDC is to deny his status as an artist, "because he is not registered with any cultural institution."

The 35-year-old artist was arrested on December 31, 2024, at his home in the La Lisa neighborhood of Havana. The detention, as reported by the initiative Arte Prohibido, led by Nando himself, was carried out without prior summons or judicial order.

According to reports from his family and independent organizations, his detention is linked to allegations of presumed connections to subversive activities and a fire that occurred in Parque Lenin on December 30th.

At the end of July, Nando Obdc declared a hunger strike while being held incommunicado in a prison in Güines, Mayabeque province.

In August, the Dialogue Table reported that the artist had been imprisoned since the end of last year, despite not being among those allegedly responsible for the crime for which he was arrested.

“On August 19, the Gaceta De Cuba published a Requisitorial detailing the events leading to the arrest of artist and activist Fernando Almenares Rivera (NandoOBDC) on December 31, 2024,” read a tweet from the Mesa de Diálogo account.