"They are innocent and shouldn't spend another minute in prison
," wrote Cuban opposition activist Anamely Ramos Gonzalez on her Twitter account, in reaction to the requisitions against dissident artists Luis Manuel Otero. Alcantara and Maykel Castillo.
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Sentences of 7 and 10 years in prison have been requested by Cuban justice against artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara and Maykel Castillo, imprisoned for several months, according to a publication posted Thursday on the Facebook account of one of them.
Rapper Maykel Castillo is already imprisoned for resistance, contempt of justice and assault for his participation on April 4, 2021 in a demonstration in Havana against police officers who came to arrest him.
The 39-year-old is the co-author of the controversial song
Patria y Vida,
which has become an anthem for protesters and considered controversial for its reference to the famous
Homeland or Death
launched by Fidel Castro.
"The people are tired"
proclaims the song released in mid-February and which has 10.8 million views on Youtube.
The government denounced a “campaign against Cuba”.
Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, 34, was arrested on July 11, 2021 when thousands of Cubans poured into the streets of the island, shouting “We are hungry” and “Freedom”.
The artist is one of the leaders of the San Isidro protest movement launched in 2018 in response to a controversial official decree regulating the work of artists.
Read alsoIn Cuba, anger breaks out in the streets
Prisoner of conscience according to Amnesty International
Havana does not consider Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara as an artist but as an agent in the service of the United States to try to destabilize the Cuban government.
He was named one of
Time
magazine's 100 People of 2021 , and a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
Justice accuses him, among other things, of incitement to commit a crime, aggravated contempt and public disorder, all prior to July 11, 2021. Washington has continued to ask Havana to release the two artists.
On Wednesday, April 6, 2022, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Americas, Brian Nichols, on Twitter urged
“Cuban officials to provide immediate medical attention to LMOAlcantara who remains critically ill and detained.”
On this social network, the United States Embassy in Cuba noted that
“Latin Grammy winner Maykel Osorbo has languished in a Cuban prison since May 2021 after months of harassment for her peaceful support of freedom”
.
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