Sonia Garro, her husband and neighbor still jailed since March 18, 2012 and trial postponed again

“ The Cuban authorities’ continual postponing of the trial without explanation raises concerns that the charges against the three may be politically motivated. They should now be released immediately and be allowed to await their trial outside of prison.   ” James Burke, Caribbean Researcher at Amnesty International 11/7/14

Sonia Garro Alfonso

7 November 2014

Cuba: Detainees left in limbo as trial postponed yet again

 by Amnesty International

The trial of three people arrested in Cuba during a government crackdown on peaceful protests has been postponed for a fourth time in two and a half years, leaving the detainees in an unfair legal limbo, said Amnesty International today. 

Sonia Garro Alfonso, who is a member of the Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco) a protest group, her husband Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González and their neighbour Eugenio Hernández Hernández have been in pre-trial detention since 18 March 2012. Their trial was finally due to start this morning but was once again postponed without explanation. No new trial date has been set.

“The Cuban authorities’ continual postponing of the trial without explanation raises concerns that the charges against the three may be politically motivated. They should now be released immediately and be allowed to await their trial outside of prison,” said James Burke, Caribbean Researcher, Amnesty International.

Amnesty International had been calling for the trial to go ahead in accordance with international standards, including the right of the accused to call defence witnesses and to challenge the evidence against them.

All three people were arrested on 18 March 2012 during a demonstration by a group of government supporters that had gathered in front of Sonia Garro Alfonso and Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González’s house. The government supporters, helped by state security officials, were attempting to prevent the couple from participating in in events to commemorate the anniversary of the crackdown on dissidence which started on 18 March 2003 and led to the imprisonment of 75 peaceful activists.

They were charged by the public prosecutor in September 2013 with public disorder (desórdenes públicos) and attempted murder (asesinato en grado de tentativa). Sonia Garro Alfonso faces the additional charge of using violence or intimidation against a state official (atentado). Their trial has been postponed previously on three occasions, in November 2013, June 2014 and October 2014, with no reason ever given for each postponement.

This morning across Cuba, members of the Ladies in White have been peacefully demonstrating in front of their local courts on behalf of Sonia Garro Alfonso, Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González and Eugenio Hernández Hernández. There have been reports of arrests of members in the city of Matanzas and the town of Palma Soriano in the province of Santiago de Cuba. There were also reports yesterday that officials from the Department of State Security summoned a number of members of the Ladies in White or visited their homes in order to threaten them not to attend demonstrations today.

Amnesty International calls on the authorities to cease their continual harassment and arbitrary detention of the Ladies in White and allow them to carry out their peaceful activities without fear of reprisals.

Czech NGO calls for attention to Lady in White Sonia Garro's plight

(**Leer Versión En Español Abajo**) Sonia Garro’s trial postponed once more As Sonia Garro’s trial has been again postponed, after initially being announced for June 30th, the Czech NGO People in Need would like to express its concerns about the potential outcome of her case. She has been accused of aggression, public disorder and attempted murder against a policeman who was trying to arrest her, charges for which she could be facing a ten year sentence. As her lawyer at the time mentioned, the accusations are unfounded and the sentences demanded by the Prosecution are excessive and unnecessarily severe. The trial was previously  postponed in October 2013 without any explanations or the setting of a new  date by the Court, as is often the case with trials dealing with political dissidents in Cuba.   As a member of the Ladies in White, Sonia Garro, along with two other opposition activists - her husband Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González and Eugenio Hernández Hernández, were violently taken into custody and arrested in March 2012, during Pope’s Benedict XVI visit to the island, following an aggressive intervention in which the authorities used the Special Forces.  They have been imprisoned without a trial for more than two years, during which Sonia’s health has deteriorated significantly. Sonia and her husband have both been repeatedly subjected to physical and psychological torture, i.e. beatings, interrogations, placement in isolation cells among other acts, while in prison. She had to be hospitalized several times due to poor health. Furthermore, on April 10th 2013, she was moved from the prison during the Open Day organized for the journalists, so that they couldn’t witness the terrible state she was in. This is why People in Need would like to bring  added public attention to her situation and to ask for human rights to be respected in the cases of Sonia Garro, Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González and Eugenio Hernández Hernández . Sincerely, Cuban Team / Equipo de Cuba People in Need - Human Rights and Democracy Facebook.com/peopleCuba | @PeopleCuba Cubalog.eu - rewriting Cuba, EyeOnCuba.org Sign up for our free newsletter about Cuba! ================================================== El jucio de Sonia Garro pospuesto de nuevo sine die Fuentes en la isla informaron hace unos días de que Sonia Garro sería por fin juzgada el próximo lunes 30 de junio. Sin embargo, hoy nos han comunicado que le jucio ha sido pospuesto de nuevo, sin nueva fecha ni explicaciíon alguna. El juicio había sido pospuesto por última vez, igualmente sin motivo y sine die en octubre de 2013. Desde la ONG People in Need queremos expresar nuestra preocupación por la situción de Sonia Garro que, acusada de desorden público, agresión e intento de homicidio del  policía que la arrestó, se enfrenta a una pena de 10 años de prisión.  Como ya ha mencionado su abogado, las acusaciones carecen de fundamento y la pena que solicita la Acusación es excesiva. Además, su juicio se pospone continuamente, algo que sucede habitualmente con los disidentes en Cuba. Sonia Garro, miembro de las Damas de Blanco, fue violentamente arrestada junto con su marido, Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González, y Eugenio Hernández Hernández, ambos activistas de Derechos Humanos, en marzo de 2012, durante la visita de Benedicto XVI a Cuba. Durante los dos años que Sonia y su marido han pasado privados de libertad sin que se haya celebrado juicio alguno, la salud de la Dama de Blanco se ha ido deteriorando. Sonia y Ramón han sido objeto de torturas físicas y psicológicas durante su estancia en prisión, tales como interrogatorios, golpizas y temporadas en celdas de aislamiento.  Sonia ha tenido que ser conducida al hospital en varias ocasiones. Una de las veces fue retirada de la cárcel con ocasión de la visita organizada de periodistas a las cárceles, el 10 de Abril 2013, para que no viesen el mal estado en el que se encontraba la Dama de Blanco. Estos son los motivos que mueven a People in Need a realizar este comunicado para atraer la atención internacional y pedir que se respeten los Derechos Humanos en el caso de Sonia Garro, Ramón Alejandro Muñoz González y Eugenio Hernández Hernández; en este caso su derecho a un juicio justo. Atentamente, Cuban Team / Equipo de Cuba People in Need - Human Rights and Democracy Facebook.com/peopleCuba | @PeopleCuba Cubalog.eu - rewriting Cuba, EyeOnCuba.org Sign up for our free newsletter about Cuba!