Detainees left in limbo as trial postponed yet again - Amnesty International

7 November 2014

Cuba: Detainees left in limbo as trial postponed yet again
"The Cuban authorities' continual postponing of the trial without
explanation raises concerns that the charges against the three may be
politically motivated. They should now be released immediately and be
allowed to await their trial outside of prison."

James Burke, Caribbean Researcher at Amnesty International
Fri, 07/11/2014

The trial of three people arrested in Cuba during a government crackdown
on peaceful protests has been postponed for a fourth time in two and a
half years, leaving the detainees in an unfair legal limbo, said Amnesty
International today.

Sonia Garro Alfonso, who is a member of the Ladies in White (Damas de
Blanco) a protest group, her husband Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González and
their neighbour Eugenio Hernández Hernández have been in pre-trial
detention since 18 March 2012. Their trial was finally due to start this
morning but was once again postponed without explanation. No new trial
date has been set.

"The Cuban authorities' continual postponing of the trial without
explanation raises concerns that the charges against the three may be
politically motivated. They should now be released immediately and be
allowed to await their trial outside of prison," said James Burke,
Caribbean Researcher, Amnesty International.

Amnesty International had been calling for the trial to go ahead in
accordance with international standards, including the right of the
accused to call defence witnesses and to challenge the evidence against
them.

All three people were arrested on 18 March 2012 during a demonstration
by a group of government supporters that had gathered in front of Sonia
Garro Alfonso and Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González's house. The government
supporters, helped by state security officials, were attempting to
prevent the couple from participating in in events to commemorate the
anniversary of the crackdown on dissidence which started on 18 March
2003 and led to the imprisonment of 75 peaceful activists.

They were charged by the public prosecutor in September 2013 with public
disorder (desórdenes públicos) and attempted murder (asesinato en grado
de tentativa). Sonia Garro Alfonso faces the additional charge of using
violence or intimidation against a state official (atentado). Their
trial has been postponed previously on three occasions, in November
2013, June 2014 and October 2014, with no reason ever given for each
postponement.

This morning across Cuba, members of the Ladies in White have been
peacefully demonstrating in front of their local courts on behalf of
Sonia Garro Alfonso, Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González and Eugenio
Hernández Hernández. There have been reports of arrests of members in
the city of Matanzas and the town of Palma Soriano in the province of
Santiago de Cuba. There were also reports yesterday that officials from
the Department of State Security summoned a number of members of the
Ladies in White or visited their homes in order to threaten them not to
attend demonstrations today.

Amnesty International calls on the authorities to cease their continual
harassment and arbitrary detention of the Ladies in White and allow them
to carry out their peaceful activities without fear of reprisals.

Source: Cuba: Detainees left in limbo as trial postponed yet again |
Amnesty International -
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/cuba-detainees-left-limbo-trial-postponed-yet-again-2014-11-07