The evangelical pastor Elier Muir Ávila demanded on Thursday the immediate release of his son Jonathan David Muir Burgos, 16 years old, who has been held at the Canaleta Prison in Ciego de Ávila since early April, despite suffering from a serious illness that requires urgent treatment and conditions that the prison cannot provide.
Jonathan was arrested on March 16 along with his father when they responded to a police summons in Morón, following his alleged involvement in the protests on March 13 in that municipality, which were triggered by a blackout lasting over 26 hours and chronic food shortages.
That day, the protesters stormed the headquarters of the Partido Comunista de Morón, burned furniture and documents, and chanted slogans of "Freedom!" and "Down with the dictatorship!".
Eliér was released hours after the arrest, but Jonathan was transferred to the Technical Investigation Department of Ciego de Ávila and subsequently to the Canaleta Prison, where he faces formal charges for the crime of sabotage, one of the most serious offenses in the Cuban legal system.
On March 25, the Provincial Court of Ciego de Ávila rejected a habeas corpus petition filed in his favor, and on March 30, he was formally accused.
The minor suffers from severe dishydrosis which in 2021 led to a generalized sepsis due to the presence of two bacteria in his body: a staphylococcus and a beta-hemolytic streptococcus, which chronically depressed his immune system.
Since 2023, Jonathan has an upcoming medical appointment at a hospital in Washington D.C. that has been rescheduled several times because the United States Embassy in Cuba has not granted him the necessary humanitarian visa. The next appointment is scheduled for May 20, 2026.
On March 18 —two days after his arrest— he was supposed to begin a treatment with Hebertrans, a Cuban transfer factor immunomodulator, at a rate of one vial per week for ten weeks.
He has not been able to receive even the first one, and in the Canaleta Prison, he also lacks the proper nourishment and sanitary conditions that his sensitive skin requires.
In a video published by the organization Justicia 11J, Elier was clear: My son is indeed sick, my son does need to be treated.
He also requested that no photographs of Jonathan taken during his health crisis in 2021 be circulated, as they are out of context and could jeopardize the process for his release.
The father has also reported that he has been threatened with imprisonment if he makes complaints in the first person, and that he had to dismiss the first lawyer in the case due to the pressures that this lawyer was receiving.
On April 14, Jonathan received his first family visit since his arrest: his parents and siblings were able to see him, hug him, give him a Bible, and pray with him. Pastor Mario Félix Lleonart, director of the Patmos Institute, who reported on the visit, emphasized: "The goal is not to see him alive in a month; the goal is to have him free at home and in his church."
Cubalex documented at least 16 individuals arrested in the context of the protests in Morón, including four minors. Two of them remain detained: Jonathan and Cristian de Jesús Crespo Álvarez, also 16 years old, whose mother was only able to visit him for ten minutes since the arrest.
On April 10, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued an official request to the Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, granting a period of five days to account for the situation of the minor. Justicia 11J demands his immediate release, invoking the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Beijing Rules, instruments to which Cuba is a signatory.
Filed under: