July 11 4
Attorney General’s report on July 11 trials
Office of the Attorney General of the Republic reports on the status of criminal proceedings arising from the riots of July 11, 2021
By Attorney General of the Republic
January 25, 2022
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
For the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, it is a duty to continue informing the people and international public opinion about the legal response given to the serious events that occurred on July 11, 2021, which attempted against the constitutional order and the stability of our socialist State.
As has been explained, these events occurred in a particularly complex context of world economic crisis, aggravated by an unprecedented pandemic that took the lives of many Cubans, and the intensification of the economic, commercial and financial blockade by the United States government against our country, which continues to try, without being able to achieve it, to destroy the Revolution.
In a tendentious manner, the manipulations and opinion matrixes continue, which seek to accuse Cuba of human rights violations, trying to delegitimize the criminal proceedings initiated to investigate conduct constituting a crime, in accordance with the laws in force.
The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic, as part of its mission, verified compliance with the constitutional rights and guarantees of due process, and monitored the development of the investigations carried out by the bodies of the Ministry of the Interior, the right to defense was guaranteed, the lawyers provided evidence and had access to the proceedings.
The Prosecutor’s Office received, once the investigation was concluded, 117 preparatory phase files corresponding to the most significant events, with 790 persons charged with acts of vandalism, attacks against the authorities, persons and property, as well as serious disturbances of order. Twenty-one percent of these persons had a criminal record.
Of these, 110 files have been submitted to the courts, with 710 defendants for trial, 69% of them secured with the precautionary measure of pre-trial detention.
Of the total number of defendants in these files, 115 are between 16 and 20 years of age, against whom it was decided to bring criminal action before the courts, due to the seriousness of the acts committed and their proven participation:
– 55 are between 16 and 18 years of age, of whom 28 secured with the precautionary measure of pre-trial detention. Based on the possibilities offered by the law and as a result of the practice of the evidence in the oral proceedings, the acknowledgment of the facts, repentance shown and the condition of students, the Prosecutor’s Office modified the sanction request for 18 of these defendants, for others of lesser severity.
– Likewise, 60 are between 19 and 20 years of age, of which 41 are secured with provisional imprisonment.
The decision of the Prosecutor’s Office to bring the accusation before the courts, in all cases, was based on the evidence provided, among them the declarations of witnesses and victims, expert analysis of videos published in different media and others taken, which allowed the identification of the accused in facts that typify crimes of public disorder, instigation to commit crimes, damages, robbery with force and violence, attack, sabotage and sedition.
The decision to indict for the crime of sedition, although it has severe penalties, corresponds to the level of violence demonstrated in the vandalism that in a tumultuous manner caused injuries and endangered the lives of citizens, officials and members of the forces of order, by attacking them with the use of cutting, blunt and incendiary objects, with the serious disturbance of public order and the deliberate purpose of subverting the constitutional order.
In different localities, official institutions, hospitals, exchange houses (CADECA), commercial establishments and fuel outlets were stoned; many of them, as a consequence of the violence generated, were looted and goods were stolen, causing considerable damage; means of transportation were also besieged, overturned and damaged.
Cuban police cars that were overturned by demonstrators on a Havana street. Photo: AFP / Archive.
The sanctions requested by the Prosecutor’s Office are in correspondence with the seriousness of the facts, the level of participation and the damage caused to society.
As a result of the 84 trials carried out, the Prosecutor’s Office has been notified of 44 sentences issued by the courts, in which 172 defendants who were sanctioned [convicted], had the right to file the corresponding appeals.
In Cuba, minors under 16 years of age are not subject to criminal law. In the investigations, the participation of 27 was accredited, to whom the established legal procedure was applied: 10 were interned in integral and behavioral training schools, for participating, together with adults, in the commission of these acts; 17 were given individualized attention in the school of the National Education System where they are studying.
The Prosecutor’s Office, in accordance with its constitutional function, met with 508 citizens who requested information on these criminal proceedings and processed 238 complaints or petitions. The prosecutors interviewed the persons and verified the exposed elements that were contributed to the criminal investigation. The results were personally explained by the prosecutor to the complainants, offering the legal arguments in each case.
The Attorney General’s Office of the Republic reiterates that it will act in accordance with its constitutional mandate, within the framework of legality, in compliance with due process, the protection of the interests of the State and respect for the rights of all citizens.
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE REPUBLIC
It is time to save the Revolution
It is time to save the Revolution, not to turn our backs
Cuban artists and intellectuals express their rejection of aggression against Cuba promoted, organized and financed by the U.S. government
BAJANTE | internet@granma.cu
July 29, 2021
Cuban artists and intellectuals continue to express their support for the Revolution and reaffirm their rejection of continuous aggression against Cuba promoted, organized and financed by the United States government.
In his blog Segunda cita, the singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez, noted: “Regarding police excesses… I received some images of the demonstration in front of the Capitol moving toward the Malecón. It is a panoramic shot taken from a balcony of the Hotel Inglaterra. You can see police marching along the flanks of the demonstration, but there is no physical aggression on either side. I have the impression that much of what we have seen has been edited very precisely, to show what they wanted to highlight.”
Regarding the unconventional war that the nation is experiencing today, Camagüeyan poet Alejandro González Bermúdez, told Granma: “Social networks have become, in the case of Cuba, a manipulated and meticulously programmed platform to stimulate or discourage, as desired. The origin of this manipulation is obvious. At the same time, the Cuban government reiterates its commitment to dialogue, peace and consensus…”
Mercy Ruiz, winner of the National Award for Editing, expressed her “indignation with this new war for which Cubans must be prepared and defend the Revolution with all weapons, non-conventional and conventional,” and emphasized, “At this moment we must have firm convictions. The people must be systematically informed. This allows us to have weapons we need to fight. Young people need more historical education, to be aware of the background of relations between Cuba and the United States, so they understand that Homeland or Death is not a slogan, but a conscious, firm way of living.”
“The period we are living today in Cuba and beyond, is not one of slogans, but of convictions,” insisted Ulises Mora, founder of the Timbalaye rumba project. “These are moments in which we must together contribute to create solutions based on our experience and protect our conquests, in order to live together in an inclusive environment of broad social participation. We know and are fully aware of the consequences of the inhuman blockade imposed by the United States and its constant persecution. Despite this, we were able to develop vaccines against covid-19, making tangible the most evident form of the human essence. This is one more reason to reaffirm our conviction to defend Cuba from any corner of the world. No one has said that our revolutionary work is perfect, we all know that there is much to be done and to rectify, but only in an atmosphere of peace, fraternity and love among all Cubans will we advance, with and without a blockade. Cuba is the result of our struggle for independence, our hope for a better world, and the dignity of a people that will not give in to imperialist pressure, not even the most ruthless and inhuman of its aggressions.”
Legitimate protest does not include attacks
Legitimate protest does not include attacks
The first thing the Revolution did was to teach the people to read, so we could think. And thinking means reflecting on the world around us, as well as contributing to improving it through creative suggestions and constructive criticism, in order to correct mistakes. Long before social networks, Cubans were a very opinionated people. We have our own points of view about everything: sports, movies, medicine, politics…..
“Hot corners” are where baseball is discussed, plays and decisions challenged, which says as much about the exercise of expressing an opinion as attending a neighborhood government accountability assembly.
In these block meetings of residents in every Cuban community emit their evaluation of the human and the divine: from the hole in the middle of the street to the bread baked yesterday that did not weigh was what it was supposed to. These assemblies, mechanisms of democratic expression unparalleled in the world, have trained Cubans in the art of defending their judgments with arguments, valid or not, but expressed with civility and decency.
It is also the norm in matters of such broad interest as the debates on Constitutional questions, policy guidelines and other issues of significant social importance, in which the people have been summoned to establish consensus in a collective manner. Such was the debate on the draft Constitution, held from August 13 to November 15, 2018.
Aware that their assessment mattered and counted, our people understood that they were participating in establishing the legal, economic, political and social order that would govern society through a Magna Carta that would later be approved by 86.85% of the votes, with over 90% of eligible voters participating, that is, the majority of the population.
Defending an opinion is not alien to Cuban social praxis; but that was not what the July 11 disturbances were about.
Legitimate protest will never entail committing crimes, theft, violence, attacks, vandalism. There is no civility possible when one takes such action to create chaos, ignoring all social responsibility.
Those who smashed store windows and stole products, not even food, are vandals, in reality criminals. Those who assume such deplorable attitudes, those who think they are tough and attack the police, do not deserve respect.
Shaken by these events, to which we are not accustomed, we, good Cubans, who are the absolute majority, have already stated that, despite preferring to come to an understanding, will not allow anyone to violate our sacred public tranquility, a conquest and legacy of the Revolution.
There will be no room for such aggression, no chance that a handful of mercenaries can impose an agenda of lies and violence.
July 11, conceived in the United States
The events of July 11 were conceived, organized and financed from the US.
The inventors of the narrative of popular indignation now want to build another one about a supposed spontaneous insurrection against the government, which justifies the defeat and propitiates foreign intervention in the island.
Author: Raúl Antonio Capote | internacionales@granma.cu
July 24, 2021 00:07:34 AM
Translated and edited by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews.
Photo: Manuel
In February 2018, following indications from then U.S. President Donald Trump, the Internet Task Force for Subversion in Cuba was created, subordinated to the CIA.
It was a new step, considered essential, to dominate Cuban cyberspace and move to a higher stage in the strategy of subversion against the Cuban Revolution.
The propaganda crusade organized by the Task Force has been characterized by a coordinated use of all the instruments at its disposal to achieve, as a central objective, the demonization of the adversary and to justify its total destruction, as they have done in so many places in the world.
As part of the White House plan, which contemplated moving on to more severe actions against Cuba, after the “failure”, proclaimed by the ultra-right, of the policy followed by Barack Obama, the Trump administration applied more than 243 measures to “close” the blockade and suffocate the island.
It was a real shock therapy aimed at discouraging any resistance and breaking people’s faith in the future.
An important part of the plan was to start “heating up the streets”, as Gene Sharp’s manual indicates with absolute precision, with actions such as those that took place in the San Isidro neighborhood or the provocations in front of the Ministry of Culture and other institutions.
COVID-19 was a “marvelous opportunity” for the enemies of the Cuban people. Of course, they could not fail to take advantage of the pandemic and the suffering it could cause.
According to the calculations of the authors and sponsors, everything was ready: with the millions destined for subversion they paid mercenaries, cyber-sicarii and criminals, repeating the script of Iran and Bolivia in 2019.
During the last days of June, already under the administration of President Joe Biden – let’s remember that the policy of that country towards Cuba is only one -, the campaign of fear and demonization was strongly increased in the networks, the Internet Task Force synchronized the entire arsenal of media, sites and digital hitmen created or bought.
It was not, as they would have us believe, a Facebook group -a space created, as there are thousands on the island, where people share, meet friends, etc.- that promoted the events of July 11 in San Antonio de los Baños.
It was an action well-planned from the outside, with high technology, promoted by hundreds of fake accounts, bots and trolls, as has been denounced in recent days by our media. They acted taking advantage of the discontent caused by blackouts, shortages and fear of the increase of COVID-19 cases.
The defeat unleashed the hysteria of the promoters of the “protests”, the managers and ideologues. The mud machine kept going, like a puppet without strings, thrashing back and forth, howling death like a wounded beast.
The inventors of the narrative of popular indignation now want to build another one about a supposed spontaneous insurrection against the Government, justifying the defeat and propitiating foreign intervention in the Island.
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