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Behind two of the most emblematic and controversial judicial processes in recent Cuba stands the name of Edward Roberts Campbell. Little known to the public opinion within the island, but feared by activists and dissidents, this regime prosecutor has been a key player in the prosecution of a 22-year-old woman for expressing herself on Facebook, as well as in the trial that resulted in a life sentence for former Minister of Economy Alejandro Gil.
Campbell is not a minor official. According to the very profile published by the Attorney General's Office of the Republic, he has held the position of Chief Prosecutor of the Directorate for Combating Corruption and Illegal Activities since December 2020, a role from which the regime claims to fight against abuses and administrative corruption. In practice, his name is linked to decisions that have impacted lives and sent clear messages of punishment and deterrence.
One of those messages was directed at Sulmira Martínez Pérez, a young activist who was arrested in January 2023 after calling for protests on social media and openly criticizing the reality of the country. Because of those posts, the Prosecutor's Office, with Campbell as one of its representatives, requested more than ten years in prison.
Sulmira spent months in Villa Marista and then in the El Guatao prison, and she was showcased on official television in a self-incriminating video that her family described as a result of pressure and deception. Her case became a symbol of how far repression can go when someone dares to voice an opinion.
Years later, the same prosecutor made headlines again, this time in a process that seemed very different but was equally charged with symbolism: the trial against Alejandro Gil, one of the key figures in Miguel Díaz-Canel's cabinet until his downfall.
The Supreme People's Court sentenced him to life in prison for espionage and corruption, in a closed process, without public transmission, reminiscent for many of the old political trials where "treason" is used to purge the responsibilities of the system itself.
The figure of Campbell once again sparked controversy following the release of a video by journalist Mario J. Pentón, in which a telephone call to Ania Molinet, the prosecutor's wife and also an official linked to the judicial system, is revealed.
In the recording, Molinet reacts with annoyance when she is informed that her husband has been included on the list of repressors by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba and is reminded that he sentenced a young woman the same age as her daughter.
The conversation, tense and abrupt, opened another uncomfortable angle: while the courts demand prison time for those who write critical posts, evidence circulating on social media shows that the prosecutor's children are involved in the informal buying and selling of products, a practice that is typically pursued with severity in Cuba, except when it involves families in power.
Human rights organizations have cited Edward Roberts Campbell for violations of freedom of expression, due process, and internationally recognized fundamental guarantees.
Today, the name of this prosecutor links two stories that seem opposed but arise from the same system. In both cases, justice does not appear as a refuge, but rather as an instrument.
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