The Popular Municipal Court of Jimaguayú held a session at the Open Penitentiary Facility of Camagüey, outside its usual location, to judge six inmates for escape and other related offenses, reported the provincial broadcaster Radio Cadena Agramonte this Saturday.
The decision to hold the trial within the prison itself was justified by the authorities due to the "high incidence and severity of incidents involving the escape of prisoners or detainees," as specified in Article 206 of Law No. 151, the current Penal Code.
The imposed sanctions ranged from 10 months to three years of imprisonment. Additionally, there were restrictions on rights and a prohibition on leaving the national territory, which are supplementary measures provided for in Cuban legislation.
The court also revoked the prison benefits of the convicted individuals and ordered their transfer to higher-security facilities, which means harsher conditions of confinement for those sanctioned.
The media outlet presented the judicial action as an institutional response to the seriousness of the evasion cases and emphasized that the process took place in an open and public trial, with the guarantees of due process.
However, the official information did not specify the circumstances of the evasions, when they occurred, or what other associated crimes the inmates were tried for.
This type of practice is not new in Cuba. In June, the authorities militarized a prison in Las Tunas to try political prisoners within the prison El Típico, with restricted access for family members and observers.
The case occurs against a backdrop of serious deterioration in the Cuban prison system. Cubalex recorded 762 incidents involving people deprived of their liberty during the first half of the year, including 104 punitive transfers, 85 isolations in punitive cells, and 77 hunger strikes.
A recent report documented four dead and 79 violations of rights in Cuban prisons just in October, while Camagüey accounts for a significant number of these cases, particularly in the Kilo 7 and Kilo 8 prisons.
The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights submitted a formal complaint to the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Camagüey regarding irregularities in the case of journalist Henry Constantín, who has been imprisoned in Kilo 7 prison since September 16.
In the territory of Agramonte, escapes from open institutions have recent precedents. In December 2025, an inmate escaped from the La Empresita Open Unit and was recaptured thanks to reports from neighbors, after which he also lost his penitentiary benefits.
Prisoners Defenders reported 1,372 political prisoners in Cuba as of October 1, a historic record for the Cuban dictatorship, which highlights the intensification of the prison system during a period of unprecedented repression.
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