Attorney General's Office reports on the status of criminal proceedings related to the July 11 riots

Havana, January 25 (RHC) The newspaper Granma, the official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, published on Tuesday a statement from the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic on the status of criminal proceedings arising from the riots provoked on July 11, 2021, on the island.

The information affirms that manipulations and opinion matrixes continue in a distorted manner, which seeks to accuse Cuba of human rights violations, delegitimizing the criminal proceedings initiated to investigate behaviors constituting a crime per the laws in force.

The Office emphasized that it verified compliance with the constitutional rights and guarantees of due process and monitored the development of the investigations carried out by the Ministry of the Interior bodies. The right to defense was guaranteed; the lawyers provided evidence and had access to the proceedings.

It added that once the investigation was concluded, it received 117 preparatory phase files corresponding to the most significant events, with 790 persons charged for acts of vandalism, which attempted against authorities, persons, and property, and severe disruptions of public order. Twenty-one percent of these persons had a criminal record.

Of these, 110 files have been submitted to the courts, with 710 defendants for trial, 69% of them secured with the precautionary measure of pre-trial detention.

Of the total number of defendants in these files, the Attorney General's Office said  115 are between 16 and 20 years of age, against whom it was determined to bring criminal action before the courts due to the seriousness of the acts they committed and their proven participation.

Fifty-five are between 16 and 18 years of age, and 28 are secured with the precautionary measure of pre-trial detention.

Based on the possibilities offered by the law and as a result of the practice of the evidence in the oral proceedings, the acknowledgment of the facts, the repentance shown, and their condition of students, the Prosecutor's Office modified the sanction request for 18 of these defendants, for others of lesser severity.

In addition, 60 are between 19 and 20 years old; 41 of these 41 are secured with provisional imprisonment.

The decision of the public body to sustain the accusation before the courts, in all the cases, was based on the means of evidence provided, among them the declarations of witnesses and victims, expert analysis of videos published in different media and others taken, which allowed the identification of the accused in facts that typify crimes of public disorder, instigation to commit crimes, damages, robbery with force and violence, attack, sabotage and sedition.

Likewise, it pointed out that the determination to charge for the crime of sedition, although it has severe penalties, corresponds to the level of violence demonstrated in the vandalic conducts that in a tumultuous manner caused injuries and endangered the lives of citizens, officials, and members of the law enforcement agencies, by attacking them with the use of cutting, blunt and incendiary objects, with the severe disturbance of public order and the deliberate purpose of subverting the constitutional order.

The penalties requested by the Prosecutor's Office follow the seriousness of the facts, the level of participation, and the damage caused to society.

As a result of the 84 trials conducted, the Prosecutor's Office has been notified of 44 sentences issued by the courts, in which 172 defendants were sanctioned, who had the right to establish the corresponding appeals.

In its statement, the Attorney General's Office pointed out that minors under 16 years of age are not subject to criminal law in Cuba.

In the investigations, the participation of 27 was accredited, to whom the established legal procedure was applied: 10 were interned in integral and behavioral training schools for intervening together with adults in the commission of these acts; 17 were given individualized attention in the school of the National Education System where they are studying.

Following its constitutional function, the Prosecutor's Office attended to 508 citizens who requested information on these criminal proceedings and processed 238 complaints or petitions.

The Attorney General'sGeneral's Office of the Republic reiterates that it will act following its constitutional mandate, within the framework of legality, in compliance with due process, the protection of the interests of the State and respect for the rights of all citizens.