2023-12-22 05:17:12
A dozen mothers, wives and fathers of the protesters imprisoned on July 11, 2021 in Cuba met this Thursday to demand their freedom, on the eve of the third Christmas that they will have to spend away from their loved ones, according to a video posted on the internet. .
“We are not celebrating, we are in a black Christmas. Freedom for our children!” says Liset Fonseca, mother of Roberto Pérez, sentenced to 10 years in prison, in the video that was broadcast on the social network Facebook.
The relatives, most of them mothers and wives of the imprisoned protesters, gathered at Marta Perdomo’s house, in the city of San José de las Lajas, 32 km southeast of Havana, to share their “pain” and “sadness.” .
“A group of mothers are here today, not celebrating but together here, in this great sadness that we have in a black Christmas, without our children,” adds Perdomo, mother of brothers Jorge and Nadir, who are serving eight-year prison sentences. and six years, respectively.
On July 11 and 12, 2021, thousands of Cubans took to the streets shouting “we are hungry” and “freedom”, in the largest anti-government demonstrations recorded on the communist island since the triumph of the revolution in 1959.
The government, which accuses Washington of having orchestrated these protests, has reported that some 500 protesters have been sentenced, some up to 25 years old, for these marches, while human rights organizations estimate this figure at 700.
“Many families are going to celebrate an incomplete Christmas because (…) our Christmas has been mutilated by injustice,” says Luis Rodríguez, who has his wife, Angélica Garrido, and his sister-in-law, María Cristina Garrido, in prison.
The situation of the imprisoned protesters was the “dominant topic” during the conversations held in November between the Cuban government and the special representative for Human Rights of the European Union (EU), Eamon Gilmore, during a two-day visit to the island.
Gilmore, who was received by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, reported that he met with “relatives of detainees” for these protests and that he addressed issues with the authorities regarding the “detentions” and the “sentences that were imposed, some of them very long”.
The United States, the Catholic Church and the European Union have called for the release of imprisoned protesters.
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