Activist from Pinar del Río detained overnight due to his trip to Switzerland

A human rights defensor José Ernesto Morales Estrada was summoned to the police station. When he arrived, all high State Security officials from the region were already waiting for him. Instead of being interrogated, Jose Ernesto was detained, they confiscated all his things and he was taken by force to a prison cell no. 17. At 20:00, State Security official Lieutenant colonel Beune and Captain Juan Pérez came to his cell and told him that he was under their control. The officials started taking pictures of him and recording all of what had been said. In fact, they wanted to get more information about his visit in Geneva, Switzerland, which had taken place at the beginning of October. They were interrogating him until 2 am, so Jose Ernesto could not take his trip to Costa Rica which had been scheduled for the next day, October 16. The next day in the afternoon, State Security official Juan Pérez came to the José Enesto´s cell and told him he could leave the police station. However, he was told that he could not leave the province and he would have to come again to the police station on October 21. While Jose Enersto was kept in a cold and humid cell, his family members, who came to the police station to get some information about Jose Ernesto, were told that José Ernesto was not there.