Only five political prisoners were released, “after full compliance with the sanction or measure imposed,” said Prisoners Defenders
14ymedio, Havana, 13 June 2024 — With the arrest of 19 people in May, the Cuban regime has a total of 1,113 political prisoners, according to the most recent report by Prisoners Defenders (PD) published this Thursday. Of the cases listed for the month, 11 are protesters of the Juraguá protests, in Cienfuegos, on May 28. In the same period, only five political prisoners were released, “after full compliance with the sanction or measure imposed,” said PD. Likewise, Lisdani Rodríguez Isaac, of Villa Clara, was released with an extra-criminal license granted for her pregnancy, which will last a year, after which she could return to jail.
According to the organization, based in Madrid, the month of May was characterized by “repression against peaceful demonstrators, large-scale repressive operations against independent journalists, torture of prisoners with psychiatric conditions and the denial of prison benefits for political prisoners entitled to them,” such as parole or the suspension of correctional work, according to the statement.
On May 20, the political police also arrested, interrogated, summoned or prohibited other independent journalists from leaving their homes
In the specific case of the detainees in Juraguá, who took to the streets in protest of the prolonged blackouts and the lack of other essential services, “the authorities imposed a bail of 200,000 Cuban pesos – 530 dollars in the informal exchange market in Cuba, an unattainable figure for most Cubans. They are being prosecuted for the alleged crimes of public disorder, contempt or attack,” the organization explains.
Erich González Lima, a journalist residing in the Nuclear City of Juraguá, is one of the demonstrators arrested by the Cuban authorities for participating in the protest. On May 20, when the Day of the Republ
