Roberto Perez Fonseca was sentenced to ten years in prison for ripping up a portrait of Fidel Castro during the protests in San Jose de las Lajas, Mayabeque, in July 2021.

The case against him was built on the Police report from officer Jorge Luis Garcia Montero, a.k.a. “Rompehuesos” (Bone-breaker). In the middle of the protest, Garcia Montero beat a young man while dragging him to a patrol car and Roberto Perez cried out: “Thug, killer, leave him alone!”

Meanwhile, the officer said that on July 11th, Roberto had led a mob of violent citizens armed with “bottles and stones”, that he’d hit him in the wrist with a rock, and then threw another big stone against a police patrol car “causing damage”.

At the trial which took place on September 28, 2021, there were police officers with dogs and several members of the riot police outside the court to keep watch. According to Liset Fonseca, the prisoner of conscience’s mother, Officer Garcia Montero – known as a violent man in the town because he takes advantage of his position to blackmail small private businesses – “said that he felt very offended by the words Roberto shouted at him on July 11th, that nobody had stood up to him like that before. He added that he was the only one he recognized amidst the crowd and identified the defendant as the leader of the protest and instigator of acts of vandalism against police officers and MLC (US dollar priced) stores. When the defense asked him if he at least remembered what the defendant was wearing that day, Garcia Montero failed to answer.”

In the beginning, Roberto’s mother was convinced that her son would be acquitted, and the defense would win the case because there wasn’t any incriminating evidence. According to the court minutes published by Yucabyte, there were statements in the pre-trial phase from three witnesses present at the time and place of the event, who said that Roberto never threw stones. The court rejected their witness statements with the excuse that they could be “inadmissible”, and the defense proposed another four more witnesses instead. The court cut the list to half the witnesses; both were Roberto’s relatives. Their statements were dismissed during the trial because they “showed complete bias in the defendant’s favor.”

Police officer Garcia was the only witness and plaintiff, but the alleged stones Roberto threw weren’t dealt with or described at any point in the trial, and the patrol car and police officer’s body showed no signs of assault. On the other hand, the medical certificate presented by Garcia had a date that was determined illegible, and it didn’t have the stamp from the health center that issued it.

The defense presented a viral video on social media as the last piece of evidence, a video in which you can see the exact moment Roberto stood up to the police. The video showed Roberto practically on his own and not leading a crowd, like the official had said, and he only exchanged words with the police officer before walking off. The court dismissed the evidence because “it had been saved on a USB stick” and not on a DVD, as Cuban legal specifications stipulate.

Meanwhile, the Public Prosecutor’s Office presented evidence based on witness statements from “trusted individuals”, who said Roberto “has a negative social attitude, as he doesn’t take part in the work carried out by mass organizations” and that “he likes to brag and speculate.” According to an article in the press, they contradicted themselves at another point in the investigation, admitting that Roberto had “a normal life, in keeping with his means,” and that “he doesn’t have luxury items in his residence.”

On October 19, 2021, Liset was notified of the court sentence against her son. He was found guilty for contempt, was charged with two counts of assault, incitement and public disorder, with the aggravating circumstance of having used a weapon (stones). His mother soon understood from information given by a police officer during a visit to Roberto that the exaggerated sentence and multiple charges against her son were because he had ripped up a photo of Fidel Castro. “Ripping the picture, that can’t be forgiven. They had to do something to teach a serious lesson,” the Cuban woman said.

What’s happened to Roberto after his arrest?

Ever since he’s been in jail, Roberto hasn’t stopped protesting to demand justice, which is why he has received threats within Quivican prison, in Mayabeque.

In April 2023, Roberto held a protest along with another two prisoners of conscience in the prison yard. They shouted “Patria y Vida” (Homeland and Life) and “Abajo la dictadura” (Down with the dictatorship). As a result, all three of them received “a brutal beating” from prison guards, said Aberto Ortega Fonseca, the prisoner’s brother. “My brother was wearing a white sweater with the phrase “Patria y Vida” (Homeland and Life) and “Cuba de luto” (Cuba mourns) on the front and on the back “Libertad” (Freedom). I hold the Cuban dictatorship responsible for the lives and health of peaceful protestors,” he tweeted.

In early May 2023, Liset Fonseca said that her son received a note with the message: “Roberto, if you carry on like this, we’re going to make sure something happens to you in prison.”

After the protest, he was transferred to another wing. His mother said that the prison authorities encourage clashes between regular inmates and political prisoners, and this is why she fears for Roberto’s safety and physical integrity in prison: “Regular prisoners say that what’s happening in the prison is his fault.”

On the other hand, Alberto Ortega Fonseca complained that Roberto had health problems and is still being held in inhumane conditions: “They have my brother with a broken cot, and my brother who has agonizing back pain, has to sleep on the ground because he’s afraid he’ll fall. It wasn’t enough for them to transfer him to a more dangerous wing where there are inmates with longer sentences and giving the order for these ordinary prisoners to beat him to death and kill him if necessary, if he protests again. I hold the Communist Party, State Security and prison guards responsible for my brother’s health and physical integrity.”

At the end of this month, during a visit to Cuba made by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, the prisoners of conscience began a hunger strike to demand “respect for every prisoner – common and prisoners of conscience -, religious freedom, the right to medical care; better food and freedom for every prisoner of conscience,” in his brother’s words. After the strike, Roberto’s phone call on Saturdays was only allowed in an office under an officer’s supervision.

In October 2023, the prisoner wasn’t allowed to make phone calls in jail because of a new protest he held with other inmates, demanding freedom for prisoners of conscience and better food and medical care. His mother said at the end of this month that she hadn’t received a call from Roberto in two weeks. Before that, his younger brother had complained that he was only allowed to talk for a couple minutes, which means he’s only able to talk to his family for approximately two hours every year.

Furthermore, he added that Roberto had been locked up in solitary confinement three times since he was imprisoned, once for six months in a dark and boarded cell, in front of a tank full of mosquitoes. “The mosquitoes bit him day and night. The only thing they give prisoners in solitary is a jug with enough water for two cups in the entire day. They don’t have mattress or bedsheets and they are put in a tiny cell.”

We demand justice and human rights

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which was under the mandate of the UN Commission on Human Rights, responded to the complaint filed by Cuban lawyer Sergio Osmin Fernandez regarding Roberto’s case, on November 7, 2023.

The Working Group established in its Opinion 51|2023 that “Roberto Perez Fonseca’s detention is arbitrary as it violates Articles 1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of Categories I, II and III.”

Plus, the Working Group said that the solution to this case “would be to immediately release Mr. Perez Fonseca, and to grant him the right to seek compensation.”

In March 2023, the group requested an explanation from the Cuban Government about the political prisoner’s case. His brother, Alberto Ortega Fonseca, told ADN Cuba: “My brother being chosen [to be investigated by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention) is very important for us. He also represents every other prisoner of conscience in Cuba.”

Alberto shared a copy of the letter sent by the institution based in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 13, addressed to the lawyer Fernandez Palacios, Roberto Perez Fonseca’s representative.

“[Roberto] is one of the many victims of violations of human rights, constitutional safeguards, abuse, mistreatment and breaches of the Nelson Mandela Laws which have been out of control after the unprecedented war cry from the violent repressor that is Miguel Diaz-Canel [Cuban leader] on July 11, 2021, lawyer Fernandez Palacios said.

Laritza Diversent, director of the non-profit Cubalex, said that Roberto’s sentence “is excessive and violates every guarantee of due process.” “It is a political punishment” with “severe sanctions to set an example for the rest of society,” to “spread fear and terror,” she noted.

On the other hand, the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights launched the campaign “No Cuban political prisoner is invisible” with the objective to teach people about the situation of prisoners of conscience in Cuba before and after July 11, 2021. Thus, the NGO is trying to raise awareness among the international community and to garner its solidarity. Different celebrities from across the world have taken on sponsorship of a Cuban prisoner of conscience as part of the campaign. In Roberto Perez Fonseca’s case, European Parliament member Hermann Tertsch is his sponsor, and he was one of the first to support the Observatory’s initiative.

“From today onwards, I’m sponsoring a prisoner of Cuba’s Communist dictatorship. His name is Roberto Perez Fonseca, he is 38 years old, and he was arrested on July 16, 2023 for taking part in the Cry for Freedom on July 11, 2021. He is in Quivican prison and has been given a ten-year prison sentence in a farce of a trial,” the politician tweeted.

Later, he added that both Roberto and his family would have visibility, support, and moral strength for his injust captivity to end as soon as possible and for his prison guards to know that they’ll have to pay for every finger they lay on him. “They’ve been warned. They won’t have time for impunity like previous repressors.”

This article was translated into English from the original in Spanish.