In October 2013, Yoennis de Jesús Guerra García, an independent journalist reporting for Yayabo Press Agency, was accused by the National Revolutionary Police for an alleged crime of illegal slaughter of cattle. On that day of his arrest, several pounds of beef were found at the bottom of his backyard, a place where many people pass by.
In February 2014, he was tried in the city of Sancti Spiritu, and sentenced to eight years in prison. According to his relatives, the evidence presented by the prosecutor was the meat that had been found.
Yoennis de Jesús is considered a political prisoner because it has been presumed that the political police involved him in this case to prevent him from continuing his reporting activities. In past, the journalist had been repeatedly threatened with imprisonment if he did not collaborate with the police. He had also undergone several detentions for his activity.
Rights Abused
- Civil and Political Rights
-
Personal freedom
Right to effective legal remedy
Personal security and integrity
Right not to be submitted to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
Right not to be arbitrarily detained
Right to be informed of the reasons for one's detention, at the moment of detention, and to be noticed, without delay, of the accusations
Right of detainees and prisoners to be taken promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial functions
- Perpetrator
-
Police
Political police
Sap66A/event/85
