Justice of Cuba harshly attacks protesters 3:10
Havana, Cuba (CNN) -
Following the most widespread protests since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, Cubans are now preparing for a new aftershock that will shake the communist-led island: the mass trials of those who dared to take to the streets to ask for a change.
Less than three weeks after the start of the unprecedented anti-government demonstrations, the trials are already underway.
Not surprisingly, those procedures lead to speedy convictions.
Photographer Anyelo Troya said he was running errands when thousands of Cubans took to the streets of Havana this month, many shouting "freedom" and "homeland and life," a reference to a viral song against the government.
Troya, who had already drawn the ire of Cuban officials by filming part of the music video for that scorching opposition anthem, ran into the protests with his camera.
"He was arrested immediately," his mother Raisa González told CNN.
"He didn't even get a chance to take a photo."
Thousands of Cubans took part in the historic protests against the Government singing "Down with the dictatorship" and "We want freedom."
The following week, Troy was tried with a dozen other protesters and convicted of instigating riots.
At her sentencing, where she was given a year in prison, Troya's mother said she asked to address the judges.
His mother said that he told the court that he did nothing wrong and asked, "How is this when I have not even seen a lawyer and I am innocent?"
And Raisa González added: "Immediately one of the plainclothes policemen came and handcuffed him. I told him: 'My love, calm down, you are not alone.'
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Cuban officials have declined to say how many people were detained after widespread protests on the island, which occurred as the Cuban government struggles to cope with growing shortages of basic goods and rising coronavirus cases.
According to the Cubalex exile group that has tracked the arrests, as of July 26, about 700 Cubans have been detained since the protests began.
Cuban officials have said that some protesters who were arrested are being released.
Cubalex puts the number of released at 157.
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The families of some protesters, who did not want to be identified, told CNN that their relatives were arrested simply for being on the street while the protests unfolded or simply for filming the demonstrations.
Many young people in Cuba had never seen protests of such magnitude in their lives.
Stung by criticism that their crackdown on protesters shows blatant disregard for basic civil liberties, Cuban officials said due process was being followed and that some protesters had destroyed property and attacked the police.
"Having different opinions, including political ones, does not constitute a crime," said Rubén Remigio Ferro, president of the Supreme Court of the Cuban People, at a press conference.
"To think differently, to question what is happening. To demonstrate is not a crime, it is a right granted by the constitution ... We are not troglodytes."
But in practice, officials treat any call to change the communist monopoly of power in Cuba, where opposition parties are banned, as an existential threat.
Anti-government protests have gained momentum through the growth of the mobile Internet in Cuba.
The rapid growth of mobile Internet in Cuba has paved the way for Cubans to quickly organize and share images of protests.
Activists in recent years have tried to hold demonstrations to protest artistic censorship;
in favor of LGBTQ rights;
and demanding a law that prohibits animal cruelty.
But Cuban police, civilian-clad state security, and baton-armed 'rapid response brigades' have quickly put an end to those rare displays of defiance.
Only when thousands of people took to the streets in July did Cuba's security apparatus briefly seem overwhelmed.
Cuban officials justified the crackdown on the protesters by saying that the demonstrations had been fostered by Cuba's nemesis in the Cold War, the United States.
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Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canal has blamed the United States for the unprecedented protests on the island.
"When you try to make an organized movement from abroad and you try to create the type of situation that the United States government will use as a justification for further aggression against Cuba, that naturally is not allowed," Carlos Fernández de Cossio told CNN , head of US affairs at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Relations.
"That can endanger the national security of our country."
Cuban artists, writers and musicians have denounced the arrests and called for an amnesty for non-violent protesters.
Faced with strong criticism, the government, at least in some cases, appears to be backing down.
Following his conviction, Anyelo Troya was released under house arrest while filing an appeal.
"It should be 100% free," Troy wrote to CNN in a message.
Others may not be so lucky.
When protesters took to the streets on July 11 in the working-class neighborhood of La Güinera, housewife Odet Hernández Cruzata and her husband Reinier Reinosa Cabrera, who before the pandemic worked in nightclubs, joined in, according to relatives in Cuba. and abroad.
Odet streamed the protests live on Facebook.
In its 22-minute video, the crowd can be heard shouting "homeland and life" and "the people united will never be defeated!"
But when the crowd approaches what they say is a police station, people yell that they are being shot and take cover.
The Cuban government later said that a protester was killed in the neighborhood by officials, who claim the protester tried to attack them.
According to their relatives, Odet and Reinier protested peacefully and returned home.
"They weren't violent, they didn't throw stones at anyone," said Odet's cousin Angelo Padrón, who lives in France but has been in close contact with relatives on the island.
"They did not commit any type of violence. Then special troops came to look for them at their house. A commando with many policemen."
Padrón said the couple are now under arrest and face serious charges including assault, disorderly conduct, damage to public property and instigation.
CNN has not been able to independently verify the charges.
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Relatives are trying to find a lawyer for the couple while they care for Odet's five-year-old daughter, Padrón said.
Neither has had prior arrests, he added.
While his family claims the couple doesn't appear to pose much of a threat, the Cuban government seems increasingly wary of defiant and tech-savvy Cubans.
Perhaps because, so far, the video of the protest that Odet broadcast live to Facebook has had more than 124,000 views.
Protests