CUBA: Family members of four men who threw around anti-government pamphlets say they have been jailed for up to five years

Record ID: 1530012

  • Title: CUBA: Family members of four men who threw around anti-government pamphlets say they have been jailed for up to five years
  • Date: 1st June 2011
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (MAY 31, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF MUNICIPAL COURTHOUSE RELATIVES OF DISSIDENTS BEING PUT ON TRIAL INSIDE COURTROOM HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, ELIZARDO SANCHEZ, ARRIVING RELATIVES OF DISSIDENTS OUTSIDE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, ELIZARDO SANCHEZ, SAYING: "The Cuban government is releasing prisoners on the one hand and with the other is putting other political prisoners into jail. So far this year there have been eight new documented cases." CARS WITH POLICE OUTSIDE COURTHOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FATHER OF YORDANIS MARTINEZ, JULIO MARTINEZ, SAYING: "I don't know what he did but he has been jailed for this [distributing pamphlets]. I don't know anything about it. What is a dissident? But why do they use him as an instrument for this? Because the youth of this unfortunately are crazy and they get picked up and used for such stupid things." WITNESSES ENTERING THE COURTROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BROTHER ONE OF YORDANIS MARTINEZ, VIDIET MARTINEZ, SAYING: "It is what he thinks about the government, otherwise he would do what he is doing. He protests because he doesn't agree. It is something spontaneous for him." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MOTHER OF DAVID PILOTO, ELISA PILOTO, SAYING: "They should be ashamed. Murderers. Down with Fidel and Raul Castro! Down with the dictatorship!" PEOPLE YELLING: "Freedom! Freedom!" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ELISA PILOTO GONZALEZ, WHO IS THE MOTHER OF WALFRIDO RODRIGUEZ, SAYING: "He went to Revolution Plaza to demand his rights as a Cuban citizen and he was taken prisoner then and still is today. They have called for five years [in jail] and he hasn't been able to defend himself. [They said they committed] defiance and there were clashes." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GOVERNMENT SUPPORTER, NAME WITHHELD, SAYING: "These are mercenaries. These people are against the revolution, against the law. There are proper channels, pacific solutions. We can't just let these people who are paid a few dollars to come here and create a scandal." GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS JEERING DISSIDENTS AND YELLING: "Fidel, Fidel, Fidel." DISSIDENT WOMAN YELLING: "The Cuban people are dying. They are killing them." DISSIDENTS MOVING AWAY FROM TRIBUNAL AS THEY ARE JEERED AT BY GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2011 14:53
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba, Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1XLMNU4VSG9DQM16G5BMW8JO6
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: Four men who threw anti-government leaflets in Havana's Revolution Square were sentenced on Tuesday (May 31) to up to five years in jail by a Cuban court, according to their family members.
    Cuban dissidents gathered outside the courtroom in Havana decried the decision and said they should be considered political prisoners.
    Thirty-three year old Luis Enrique Labrador, 40-year old David Piloto and 42-year old Walfrido Rodriguez received five-year sentences, after the court heard evidence they had committed acts "defiance" and "public disorder."
    The youngest of the group, 23-year old Yordanis Martinez, was given three years.
    "The Cuban government is releasing prisoners on the one hand and with the other is putting other political prisoners into jail. So far this year there have been eight new documented cases," human rights activist, Elizardo Sanchez, said.
    Cuba recently completed the release of 115 political prisoners -- including all who were considered "prisoners of conscience" by Amnesty International -- in a deal brokered by the Catholic church.
    Since then, dissidents have accused the government of roughing them up and detaining them, but none for long periods.
    The group sentenced on Tuesday threw leaflets into the air in two locations in Havana, including the massive Revolution Square that sits in front of the main government offices and is the site of major parades and government rallies.
    A brother of one of the dissidents, Vidiet Martinez, said it had been a spontaneous protest.
    "It is what he thinks about the government, otherwise he would do what he is doing. He protests because he doesn't agree. It is something spontaneous for him," Martinez said.
    The mother of another defendant yelled "murderers" outside the courtroom and called for the downfall of President Raul Castro and his brother and the country's former leader, Fidel Castro.
    "They should be ashamed. Murderers. Down with Fidel and Raul Castro! Down with the dictatorship!" Elisa Piloto yelled, mother of David Piloto.
    "He went to Revolution Plaza to demand his rights as a Cuban citizen and he was taken prisoner then and still is today. They have called for five years [in jail] and he hasn't been able to defend himself. [They said they committed] defiance and there were clashes."
    A group of government supporters also gathered outside the courtroom and started jeering at the dissidents and families of the convicted.
    People shouted for and against the government, with most in favor.
    "These are mercenaries. These people are against the revolution, against the law. There are proper channels, pacific solutions. We can't just let these people who are paid a few dollars to come here and create a scandal," one government supporter who did not want to give their name said.
    Cuban leaders consider government opponents to be mercenaries in the pay of their longtime ideological enemy, the United States.
    Human rights groups said the men had offered no resistance to arrest and said Amnesty International should put them on their list of prisoners of conscience.
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