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The Municipal Court of Matanzas suspended on Thursday, without offering explanations, the trial against the Cuban activists Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Pantoja Torres, which was scheduled to take place on January 30, as reported by Pantoja herself in a social media post and is noted in a court document released by her.
In her message, Pantoja explained that on Monday afternoon she had received the official summons for the process, in which both would be judged for the alleged crime of assault. However, upon inquiring with her lawyer and with López Hernández, neither of them had received any notification.
"This raises questions, because that morning the lawyer had been in court and they informed her that they knew nothing," she wrote. Pantoja questioned why the summons arrived at her home in Havana before it reached the lawyer or López, who live in the same jurisdiction.
The activist recounted that she traveled with her husband to Matanzas to ensure their presence at the court at nine in the morning, but hours before the hearing, the lawyer called them to inform them that the trial had been canceled by order of the court.
The official document, dated January 29 and signed by the presiding judge Ysenia Rodríguez Vázquez, confirms the decision. It states that the court “cannot hold the oral trial on the previously scheduled date” and orders “the cancellation of the scheduling of the oral trial” until a new date is set.
The text justifies the suspension by claiming that a reorganization of judicial activity is currently taking place at the People's Municipal Court of Matanzas. No specific reasons are provided, nor is a new date set for the proceedings.
Pantoja described the decision as a delaying tactic and stated that the trial "seems to drag on indefinitely." In her message, she asserted: "We have been patient, but we are not willing to remain unjustly constrained by precautionary measures 'for ages and ages'."
"The celebration of the trial seems to be dragging on indefinitely (...) The only thing it demonstrates is that the Cuban judicial system is in total crisis and complete disrepute," he added.
In her text, the activist stated that the case is "a political trial" and not for assault, and that it demonstrates "the regime's weakness in avoiding the undertaking of a process due to the high cost it has for them."
The court order states that the decision will be communicated to the parties, without specifying when the proceedings might be resumed.
Historian Alina Bárbara López and psychologist Jenny Pantoja were charged in June 2024, accused of the crime of conspiracy, in a case that both consider to be fabricated by the political police. The process has been marked by multiple delays, postponements, and movement restrictions against the accused, as reported when the trial date was set.
On social media, the suspension of the trial generated hundreds of reactions of support, relief, and solidarity for both women. Many users described the decision as "a maneuver to buy time," "a sign of fear," or "confirmation that the Cuban judicial system is not independent." Others emphasized that the case "should never have existed" and called for "the definitive annulment of the process."
A comment summed up the general sentiment: “That trial should never have existed. You are innocent, and the entire country knows it.”
López and Pantoja announced that they will issue joint statements through the project Cuba X Cuba. The legal proceedings against both activists occur in a context of increasing pressure against critical voices on the island, where courts operate under the control of the political apparatus and State Security.
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