Cuba: Free Ivan Fernandez Depestre a prisioner of conscience

capitolhillcubans

Ivan Fernandez Depestre, an Amnesty International "prisoner of conscience,” remains unjustly imprisoned by the Castro regime.

The 40 year-old democracy activist was arrested on July 30th in the central province of Santa Clara for peacefully participating in a public event with fellow dissidents.

Depestre, an Afro-Cuban, was charged with “dangerousness,” a pre-emptive measure defined as the “special proclivity of a person to commit crimes” after he was accused of “meeting with antisocial persons." 

He had no access to a lawyer during his show-trial and was sentenced to three-years in prison.

Under Articles 78 to 84 of Castro's Criminal Code, any Cuban accused of “special proclivity to commit crimes” can be sentenced to between one and four years of re-education in "specialized work or study establishments" or sent to "a work collective."

More "reform" you can't believe in.