Cuba.. Prison terms for two dissident artists

Cuban prosecutors announced on Friday that two members of a group of dissident artists were sentenced to prison terms.

Michael Castillo was sentenced to nine years in prison for attacking and slandering public institutions, and Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara was sentenced to five years in prison for insulting national figures.

Both participated in the so-called San Isidro Movement, named after the neighborhood where Otero Alcantara lives and which received widespread support from prominent Cuban artists and musicians when it was founded in 2020.

International human rights organizations and the US government condemned their arrest, which they called “political persecution.”

According to friends of the two, the prosecution wanted 10 years in prison for Castillo and seven years for Alcantara.

Felix Roque Delgado was also sentenced to five years in prison and three years each of the two women convicted of beating police officers in an attempt to prevent the arrest of Castillo, the 39-year-old rapper.

In November 2020, police broke up a sit-in in front of Otero Alcantara’s house in support of Dennis Solis, another rapper who was jailed for insulting a police officer. Castillo was among those involved in the sit-in.

Authorities have said they are imposing restrictions on gatherings due to the pandemic.

Source: Associated Press.

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