{"id":1222751,"date":"2022-01-18T16:52:32","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T21:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1222751"},"modified":"2022-01-18T16:52:39","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T21:52:39","slug":"cuban-protesters-on-hunger-strike-after-mass-sham-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cuban-protesters-on-hunger-strike-after-mass-sham-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuban Protesters on Hunger Strike After Mass Sham Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcuban-protesters-on-hunger-strike-after-mass-sham-trial%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1222751&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/AP22011858391587-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">Cuba began a new round of mass trials against accused participants in the July 11 national protests on Monday after concluding a trial of 21 people, including four children, last week.<\/p>\n<p>Ten of the 21 defendants in last week\u2019s mass trial, staged in the eastern city of Holgu\u00edn, are reportedly on hunger strike as they await their sentencing next month. Prosecutors charged all 21 with \u201csedition\u201d for a variety of alleged \u201ccrimes\u201d that ranged from being in the presence of a protest to alleged physical assault, corroborated only with testimonies from state security officers, according to family present at the trial. The sentences requested ranged from 15 to 30 years.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Anti-communist protests erupted in nearly every municipality on the island on July 11, 2021, a result of years of civil society organizing and encouraging acts of peaceful civil disobedience. The protesters convened in town and city squares. A large majority of those whose arrests human rights groups confirmed had no prior experience with anti-communist opposition groups and many were children under 18. Modest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2021\/08\/03\/study-187000-cubans-participated-protests-july\/\">estimates<\/a> of the number of people who participated in the protests rose above 187,000 people.<\/p>\n<p>In response to the protests, the Cuban Communist Party organized violent raids on the homes of suspected protesters, beating and, in at least one instance, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2021\/07\/14\/cuba-video-shows-police-shoot-protester-front-toddlers\/\">shooting<\/a> an unarmed civilian in his own home in front of his children. Cuban special forces known as \u201cBlack Berets\u201d \u2014 meant to crush nonviolent dissidents \u2014 arrested thousands of protesters. Since then, the few who have been released from police custody have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2021\/07\/26\/cuba-minor-house-arrest-watching-protests\/\">denounced<\/a> mass arrests of individuals simply present outside near a protest, the widespread arrests of children, and the use of violence and threats to subjugate suspected protesters.<\/p>\n<p>Communist Party agents also shut down internet access in the days following the protests, effectively cutting the island off and making it impossible for citizens to share videos of both the protests and the violent state response to them internationally.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>A group of dissidents organized to track the arrest and prosecution of the accused protesters revealed, citing the relatives of those imprisoned, that a new round of mass trials against protesters would begin on Monday and is expected to end on Friday, according to the dissident outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cubanet.org\/noticias\/mas-de-40-manifestantes-seran-juzgados-del-17-al-21-de-enero-en-cuba\/\">Cubanet<\/a>. Cubanet reported that three different trials determining the fates of 45 people \u2014 nine of them under the age of 20 \u2014 are scheduled to begin on charges of \u201cpublic disorder,\u201d \u201cdisrespect\u201d (a crime in Cuba), \u201cresistance,\u201d \u201cassault,\u201d and \u201cinsulting symbols of the fatherland.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The protests follow what relatives of the accused have denounced as a sham trial in Holgu\u00edn. The prosecution argued during that trial \u2014 according to legal documents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/latin-america\/2022\/01\/15\/cuba-prosecutors-hold-mass-trial-for-protesters-including-children-psychiatric-patient\/\">obtained<\/a> by Breitbart News \u2014 that the accused were all involved in either joining a mob of protesters on July 11 or attempting to document the protests. The poorly organized prosecutor\u2019s statement disparages many of the defendants as being committed to \u201cno activities of social use\u201d and accuses one of the women on the list of being a prostitute. It offers little detail on what the four children in the trial actually did to land in prison, but requests a 15-year prison sentence for them, anyway.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutorial indictment obtained by Breitbart News also admitted on several occasions that little evidence exists tying the accused to the alleged criminal activity documented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom the crowd of people, without being able to determine who, counterrevolutionary slogans were shouted that fomented disturbances, as some profoundly lacerated patriotic feelings,\u201d one part of the document read.<\/p>\n<p>The prosecutor also documented the appearance of an armed communist mob to counter the peaceful protesters.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>The court on Friday announced that it would not pursue 15-year sentences for the children, but reports out of Cuba suggest they may still spend as much as seven years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Relatives of the Holgu\u00edn prisoners <a href=\"https:\/\/www.14ymedio.com\/cuba\/Holguin-plantan-protesta-pedidas-Fiscalia_0_3241475824.html\">announced<\/a> last week that ten of them have begun a hunger strike as they await their sentences. Cuban journalists reporting the hunger strike identified the mother of one of the detained,&nbsp;William Manuel Leyva Pupo, as the source of the news. Leyva\u2019s family has repeatedly asserted to independent media that the 20-year-old \u2014 facing 18 years in prison \u2014 has suffered from longstanding mental health issues, making his case significantly different from the others so as to require a separate trial from the other 20 people.<\/p>\n<p>The Holgu\u00edn defendants are reportedly scheduled for sentencing on February 11.<\/p>\n<p>Leyva\u2019s mother,&nbsp;Idelsys Pupo, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cibercuba.com\/noticias\/2022-01-15-u208060-e208060-s27061-presos-11j-holguin-plantados-huelga-hambre-tras-juicio\">told<\/a> the international outlet CiberCuba that family members \u201cwill support the [hunger strikers] on the outside,\u201d without elaborating. Pupo used the word&nbsp;<em>plantados<\/em> to describe the hunger strikers, a term with a long history in Cuban anti-communist resistance.<\/p>\n<p>The sham trials have attracted even more protests. On Monday, three anti-communist dissidents were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cubanet.org\/noticias\/detienen-a-activistas-en-la-habana-por-manifestarse-contra-juicios-del-11j\/\">arrested<\/a> in front of the Havana Supreme Court for demanding freedom for all political prisoners in the country. The protesters reportedly shouted that the judicial processes were a \u201cfarce\u201d and that the dissidents were not criminals.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1642505258913000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0__vJfgnkVvABX5lFlOsWH\">Facebook<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1642505258914000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2a4CpGkSU9bSEOSqqxDhjq\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cuba began a new round of mass trials against accused participants in the July 11 national protests on Monday after concluding a trial of 21 people, including four children, last &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1222751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1222751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1222751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1222751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1222751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1222751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}