Up to 30 years imprisonment
Cuba imposes harsh penalties on protesters
4/2/2022, 3:18 p.m
More than a thousand people were arrested during protests in Cuba’s capital Havana in July 2021, and hundreds are still in prison. Cubans are sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for “rioting”. In one case, the German embassy gets involved.
Luis Frometa Compte just wanted to go get some rum. But on the way to go shopping, the German-Cuban who lives in Dresden spontaneously joined an anti-government demonstration in Cuba’s capital Havana last summer. The result: he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison for “riot”. The harsh sentences against the demonstrators have shocked many Cubans – and make the relatives despair.
The 59-year-old Compte was visiting his sister Virgen Frometa in Havana. The forest worker with dual citizenship has lived in Germany for 37 years. He had already been visiting family for a month when the unrest in Cuba escalated. On July 12, on the way to go shopping, he bumped into and joined the protesters, filming the events. Five days later, plainclothes police showed up at his sister’s house and took him away. Since then he has been in prison.
“I demand my brother’s immediate release,” says Virgen Frometa, eyes full of tears. The 56-year-old demands that the other prisoners of the demonstrations of July 11 and 12, 2021 should also be released. “Nobody overthrows a revolution unarmed, just by talking, demonstrating, saying things they don’t like, or filming, nobody,” says Virgen Frometa, shocked by her brother’s conviction for sedition.
Thousands of Cubans demonstrated against the government during the nationwide protests. Violent clashes broke out with security forces, one person died and dozens were injured. According to the Miami-based non-governmental organization Cubalex, 1,395 people were arrested, of whom 728 remain in custody. In March, 128 Cubans were sentenced to between six and 30 years in prison. Prosecutors claimed that some demonstrators wanted to provoke “a US military intervention”.
EU: “Disproportionate” judgments
Also among those sentenced were three siblings: 25-year-old Yosney Emilio Román, his 23-year-old sister Mackyani Yosney, and 18-year-old Emy Yoslan. They were sentenced to twelve and seven years in prison, respectively, for sedition. Father Emilio Roman is desperate. His children accidentally got into the crowd and got carried away. Video footage shows his daughter holding a bottle and her brothers are said to have thrown stones at security officers.
Román’s family will appeal, as will Luis Frometa Compte’s. But that’s not all: Román wants his children to leave Cuba as soon as they are able. They should “not spend another day in this country, which is a disgrace”.
The severe sentences have also caused consternation beyond Cuba’s borders. On Wednesday, the European Union said it was following the severe and “disproportionate” sentences in Cuba with “great concern”. The German embassy in Havana is taking care of the Frometa case, as a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin said. She is in close contact with the Cuban authorities, the lawyer and the relatives of the person concerned. Both the Foreign Office and the Embassy in Havana are making intensive efforts to gain consular access to Luis Frómeta Compte.