Related videos:
The pastor Elier Muir Ávila reported that the official media Razones de Cuba used images of his son, the teenager Jonathan David Muir Burgos, 16 years old, who is imprisoned in the Canaleta jail in Ciego de Ávila, to create a narrative that portrays him as healthy within the prison, in a maneuver that his father described as manipulation.
The platform posted a photograph on Facebook of Jonathan in front of a musical keyboard, accompanied by the caption "Minor Jonathan Muir appears playing the piano at a cultural event within the penal facility," along with the message: "The piano does not lie. The photo is there. And Jonathan... there he is, safe and sound, with his little hands on the keys." The Cuban regime showcased the teenager playing piano in response to his family's reports about his declining health.
Muir Ávila rejected that version in an audio obtained by CubaNet and accused the authorities of deceiving his son to photograph him. “They used him, they took his picture, they recorded video, they even documented the blood type of the boy to carry out these horrendous acts. I denounce them, I denounce all of them. And this also relates to the authorities of the prison,” he declared.
According to his complaint, the teenager was promised "a day of visitation as a reward" in exchange for playing the piano in front of other inmates, something he described as "a great lie" and "a great fallacy."
The pastor reported that the operation aims to create «a very degrading profile of his son as a delinquent, as a vandal, as a person, a criminal». «I ask the whole world not to allow such injustice; my boy is not a delinquent; he is a teenager who is very sick and needs to be freed immediately for treatment,» he stated.
The complaint carries special weight because the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) itself had already warned about this maneuver. In its resolution granting precautionary measures in favor of the minor, adopted on April 24, the organization pointed out that the authorities may have recorded images of Jonathan "presumably with the aim of constructing a public narrative that distorts the actual conditions of his detention."
Cuban journalist José Raúl Gallego described the publication as part of "the Cuban state's disinformation strategy" and was straightforward: "Jonathan Muir should not be 'playing piano' in an adult prison. Jonathan should be at home with his family, just like all Cuban political prisoners."
Jonathan was arrested on March 16 after participating in the protests in Morón triggered by power outages lasting more than 26 hours a day and extreme food shortages, and was moved on April 1 to Canaleta —a maximum-security adult prison— without notification to his family, accused of sabotage, a crime that can carry a prison sentence of seven to 15 years.
His mother reported on April 25 that the teenager suffers from vasovagal episodes: "he falls asleep, and when he wakes up, he is disoriented and doesn’t remember where he is." Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart also demanded the release of the young man "No minor should be pursued or imprisoned for speaking out against a dictatorship."
The CIDH determined a "situation of seriousness and urgency" with a risk of irreparable harm to children's rights and demanded that the Cuban regime report on the actions taken within 15 days. Cuba did not respond to the previous request that the organization sent on April 10.
Filed under: