Nearly 60 prosecuted over Cuba demonstrations says top official
Hundreds were arrested during protests this month and many face charges of contempt, public disorder and vandalism.
Nearly 60 people have been prosecuted in relation to unprecedented anti-government protests that broke out in Cuba earlier this month, a senior Cuban official has said, vowing that due process was being followed amid international criticism.
The cases were over minor charges, and the total number of people detained has not been released amid complaints from relatives seeking information about loved ones.
âUntil yesterday, 19 judicial processes had reached the municipal courts of the country â" cases involving 59 people accused of committing alleged crimes (during) these disturbances,â Ruben Remigio Ferro, president of the Supreme Court, told reporters on Saturday.
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in several locations, including the capital Havana, on July 11 and 12 to demand government action amid an economic crisis and food shortages made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
The protesters shouted âFreedomâ, âDown with the dictatorshipâ and âWeâre hungryâ in what were the largest protests on the island in decades.
Reed Lindsay, a Havana-based journalist with news outlet Belly of the Beast, said Ferroâs news conference was âa response to a lot of the international press coverage, a lot of whatâs going on on social mediaâ about the detained protesters.
âSome of the accusations against the government are that no lawyer has been provided to people who have gone to trial, that these have been summary trials â" and the government did push back against that,â Lindsay told Al Jazeera.
âThe president of the Supreme Court said that they were not summary trials â" that they were brief trials â" but that they were sort of still in process,â said Lindsay, who added that Ferro also notably said âmistakes may have been made and they could be corrected in the judicial processâ.
âIt left open the possibility for some of these maybe more minor offences, for people to be released,â Lindsay said.
Hundreds of people were arrested during the demonstrations and many face charges of contempt, public disorder, vandalism and propagation of the coronavirus pandemic for allegedly marching without face masks.
Independent observers and activists have published lists of those arrested with at least 600 names on them.
The United Nationsâ human rights chief on July 16 called on Cuba to release the protesters and several journalists also arrested.
In a statement, Michelle Bachelet slammed the Cuban governmentâs response, saying âit is particularly worryingâ that the arrestees âincluding individuals allegedly held incommunicado and people whose whereabouts are unknownâ.
Ferro on Saturday said a faster trial system was being used to prosecute the accused, but made assurances that due process was being followed.
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