As of today, Angel Santiesteban has served 6 months in prison, incommunicado

Communication: As of today, Angel Santiesteban has served 6 months in
prison, incommunicado
Posted on August 28, 2013

Today, August 28, marks six months since Angel was unjustly imprisoned
by the Castro dictatorship, after their having invented crimes he did
not commit, making use of his former wife and the mother of his son to
perform a show trial in which they were unable to prove absolutely any
of these alleged crimes for the simple reason that he did not commit
them. His sentence was based on the testimony of a handwriting expert
who alleged that the "accused" was guilty of the crimes charged because
he wrote in large and slanted print.

After the verdict which sentenced him to five years in prison, we have
made public by various means what should have been sounding alarms in
all the governments of the region that call themselves democratic and
defenders of human rights, and Angel is deprived of his freedom and has
been transferred arbitrarily between various prisons of the island, from
which he has continued to report abuses and violations of civil and
political rights that are committed in Cuba, especially now with the
prison population.

The last transfer, carried out illegally even by Cuba's own laws,
occurred on the August. It was the surprise they had prepared for his
birthday.

For five days he had literally disappeared, held incommunicado in an
unknown location. Currently we only know it is in a site that has no
name, a place that deals with the constructions of the Ministry of
Interior and in which there are only twenty-two prisoners, including
Angel. We also know that there are no visits allowed there, nor phone
calls, because prisoners are entitled to a monthly pass to visit relatives.

All this we know from Angel himself who has managed to filter out a
note, which I have posted on the blog. Officially the family has been
informed of nothing regarding the transfer or the current status of Angel.

But, as we suspected would happen, they said that as Angel is not
working, he has no right to the pass his companions were given on August
23. They have said that in his case they will alternate visits with
passes, neither of which have happened, not even when they said they
would award it, between August 2 up to today, the 28th, he is literally
incommunicado, deprived of any right to receive news of his family, to
be able to see them and set his mind at rest that they are in good
condition, especially his children who both suffer from the lack of
their dad.

We do not know what the political police is up to now that, as we have
shown, they concocted the criminalization of Angel to convict him like a
common criminal. On July 4 they visited him in the 1580 prison and tried
to persuade him to abandon his political position and to record a video
promising to cease his opposition in exchange for his freedom. When he
refused, he was urged to avail himself of his diplomatic "friends" to
grant him a visa to leave the country, to which he also refused.

These two proposals are a clear assumption by the government that Angel
is not a common criminal, but a political prisoner. So far there is no
record of violent attackers of homes who have been tempted to renounce
their political positions in exchange for their release. But Cuba and
its dictatorship never cease to amaze for their crass use of the obvious
and ingenuous,which makes us wonder if they are fools, or they think we
are as foolish as the rest.

The truth is that almost after Angel received the "generous" proposal
from the political police, they have moved him in this way not only
illegal, but extremely suspiciously, and we know they have something up
their sleeve.

The Application for Review of Judgment has been submitted and there is
no response from what calls itself Justice in Cuba. But as we expect
nothing of a Regime in which justice is a subsidiary of political power,
from outside we have not stopped for a moment to move through all
possible channels, and international demands in favor of Angel 's
innocence are underway.

The eyes of the world are on Cuba and the dictator. The demands on
behalf of Angel are traveling far, and the case of Angel too. We recall
that a few months ago we pointed out that the political police hitman
known as Camilo threatened to kill him, chased him through the streets
of Havana and even maneuvered against Angel's car to the point that
there was almost an accident. There will be no possible and credible
accident with Angel. We won't fall for that while they keep attacking,
harassing, repudiating, reprimanding the people who have decided to say,
"Enough already!" Spanish Justice is investigating the murders of
Oswaldo Paya and Harold Cepero.

Every day, like wildfire, are published new assassination attempts
against so many opponents, but the cowardice and desire for evil have no
limits, to the point that they have dared to attack the daughter of
Berta Soler, to attack Iris Tamara Perez Aguilera, wife of the
well-known opponent Jorge Luis García Pérez — Antúnez — and against
Rigorberto Rodríguez from the Christian Liberation Movement, which are
the last three cases, reported this week.

We call upon Raul Castro Ruz to respect the rights of Angel Santiesteban
Prats, to immediately release him while the review of his trial
proceeds, which, if there is true justice in Cuba, will end with him
acquitted. We also demand an end to this shameful situation of isolation
and incommunicado in which they are keeping him. His voice will not be
silenced because his blog will continue to speak for him, restoring the
space for free expression that they have stolen from him.

Everything that can happen to Angel Santiesteban is Raul Castro Ruz's
sole and absolute responsibility.

The Editor

Source: "Communication: As of today, Angel Santiesteban has served 6
months in prison, incommunicado | Translating Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/communication-as-of-today-angel-santiesteban-has-served-6-months-in-prison-incommunicado/