Thirteen sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for protests in Cuba
A Cuban court has sentenced 13 people who took part in 2022 protests over prolonged power cuts to prison terms of up to 15 years, a non-governmental organization said.
© Lusa
Mundo Cuba
The human rights group Justicia 11J said that 10 men and three women, all already in detention, were notified Friday of sentences ranging from four to 15 years in prison for sedition, contempt, enemy propaganda and sabotage.
The 13 convicts had taken to the streets on Aug. 18 and 19, 2022, to demand better living conditions and an end to lengthy power outages — up to 18 hours a day — in Nuevitas, a town in eastern Cuba located more than 600 kilometers (370 miles) from the capital, Havana.
According to Cubalex, another non-governmental organization also based in Miami, in the southeastern United States, the group was tried in January in a court in Camagüey, in central Cuba, under heavy military and police presence.
"My son is very ill," the mother of a 23-year-old man sentenced to 10 years in prison told the France-Presse news agency by phone, asking not to be identified.
According to Justicia 11J, the convicts can still appeal the sentences.
Energy shortages in Cuba peaked in 2022, with daily electricity cuts across the island.
Anti-government protests like the one in Nuevitas in 2022 are becoming more frequent in Cuba, despite the risk of detention and harsh penalties faced by demonstrators.
Hundreds of people were arrested during the historic July 11, 2021, protests demanding greater freedoms, and nearly 500 were sentenced to up to 25 years in prison, according to the latest official figures.
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