The Cuban Supreme Court said in a statement Wednesday that the protesters who were convicted “tried violently to subvert the constitutional order.”
Protests took place last summer with some continuing into the fall, as the island nation was experiencing a spike in COVID cases, blackouts, and other shortages like food and medicine. The protesters were calling for a change in government.
The Cuban government’s response to the protests and alleged treatment of protesters led to international criticism, including from the U.S. Several Cuban officials had their visas restricted by the American government in January as a result.
The court’s statement said that trials for 129 people were carried out from last December through early February, as dozens of the protesters were charged with vandalism and other disturbances.
The statement also alleged the protesters followed “instructions given by people both from Cuba and from abroad”—likely alluding to prior accusations levied by the Cuban government—that the protests were part of a “destabilization campaign” of Cuba funded by the United States.
During the July 11 protests, some of the demonstrators were charged with throwing rocks and bottles at police officers, cars, buildings and other government officials. In addition, others were charged in a July 12 protest in a separate town with throwing sticks, rocks, bottles and Molotov cocktails at government officials and a local police station.
The court said that it took into account the degree of participation each protester had in the events that occurred in addition to the “seriousness, harmfulness and violence” of an individual’s charges.
Two protesters received 30-year sentences, while dozens were sentenced to a range of four to 26 years in prison. The statement said that one person was acquitted because the court could not prove their participation in the protests.
In January, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that eight Cuban officials had their visas restricted. The Biden administration estimated that over 600 people were still imprisoned because of the protests, which he called “unjust.”
“The United States continues to use all appropriate diplomatic and economic tools to push for the release of political prisoners and to support the Cuban people’s call for greater freedom and accountability,” Blinken said at the time.
One Cuban man said his 22-year-old son had been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sedition. He maintained that the sentence for his son was “too many years just for having thrown a few rocks,” per Reuters.
Update 3/17/22, 4:30 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
