Our Moral Debt to Luis Robles
"I decided to break the silence (...) to be the voice of many who decided to remain silent, so that Denis, Maikel, Alcántara and Luis Robles would not continue to be imprisoned just for wanting Cuba to be a Homeland and Life".
I decided to break the silence because I want Cuba to be a country for Cubans, no matter their way of thinking, so that the streets of my country are for everyone and not only for communists, because I dream of living in a country with democracy."
"…I have seen a reality in Cuba that for me has no other name than DICTATORSHIP. Freedom for the people of Cuba!
Luis Robles in a LETTER explaining the reasons why he took to the streets in a peaceful protest on December 4, 2020.
On March 28, 2022, the Cuban regime committed another of its great injustices when a court sentenced Luis Robles Elizástigui to 5 years in prison. Robles is known as the "young man with the banner" for having gone out to San Rafael Boulevard in Havana on December 5, 2022 to protest with a sign that read: "Freedom," "No More Repression," "Free Denis Solis," (an artist imprisoned at the time). The fabricated charges against him were based on “Resistance” (Article 143 of the Penal Code) and “Enemy Propaganda” (Article 103). Both articles & others in the Cuban Penal Code have been deemed in violation of human rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly in a 2010 report by Amnesty International titled: “Restrictions on Freedom of Expression in Cuba. Amnesty International.”
Luis Robles represents everything the dictatorship in Cuba fears. He was one of the first to step forward and take to the streets to protest, motivating with his actions others to exercise the right to peaceful protest. His action demonstrated that in Cuba the culture of protest is re-emerging and little by little putting an end to the hegemony of fear that for decades has been key to keeping the regime in power. If there is one thing dictatorships fear, it is the power of an individual to inspire others to stand up for their rights. Individual actions throughout history have have been the spark that has ignited the flame of rebelliousness. For his resilience in the face of oppression and injustice, for the courage to stand up for what he believed, for his indomitable spirit, we owe Robles a moral debt. Let us work to denounce his arbitrary arrest, the cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment he has been subjected to and the unjust sentence against him.
Regime sentences Luis Robles Elizástigui to five years in prison.
Translated to English by Democratic Spaces. Original in Spanish via CUBANET
The Cuban political prisoner was sentenced for the alleged crimes of enemy propaganda and disobedience.
Claudia Montero
HAVANA, Cuba.
March 30, 2022
Political prisoner Luis Robles Elizástigui, under provisional detention in the Combinado del Este for more than 12 months, was finally sentenced to five years in prison, his brother, Landy Fernández Elizástigui, confirmed to CubaNet.
The notification of the sentence, received by Robles' lawyer this March 28, after three months of waiting, indicates that the Chamber for Crimes against State Security of the People's Provincial Court of Havana convicted the 29-year-old for the crimes of enemy propaganda and disobedience.
"The accused is sentenced (...) to five years' imprisonment for the crime of enemy propaganda and six months' imprisonment for the crime of disobedience, and as a joint and sole sanction, five years' imprisonment," states the sentence, which was provided to CubaNet by Fernández Elizástigui.
Relatives of the young Guantanamo man also assured this media that they intend to appeal the sentence, although "it is Luis who has to make that decision", they specified.
According to Fernández Elizástigui, the lawyer representing his brother recommended appealing, especially the conviction for the crime of enemy propaganda, which "he does not see anywhere".
Recently, CubaNet made public a missive sent by Robles Elizástigui from prison in which he explained the reasons why he decided to protest peacefully on December 4, 2020 on the boulevard of San Rafael with a sign asking for freedom and the end of repression, as well as the release of rapper Denis Solis.