Jorge Luis Boada Valdés, for whom the Prosecutor’s Office requested a 15 year sentence, must spend at least half of the sentence in prison
14ymedio, Madrid, 7 May 2024 — Jorge Luis Boada Valdés’ should have been sentenced last November for having painted “Díaz-Canel, motherfucker” on three occasions, on a wall in the Havana neighborhood of Lawton, but the wait has been extended for half a year. The Provincial Court of Havana sentenced the young man to nine years in prison for the crimes of enemy propaganda and other acts against State Security.
The family was informed about the sentence on Saturday, Jorge Boada, the prisoner’s father, told Diario de Cuba. “This Saturday we finally learned about the sentence, which is four and a half years of confinement and another four and a half on the street, the latter in case my son behaves well in prison. I believe he should not be in prison for what he did, but at least his sentence is not 15 years, as the Prosecutor’s Office requested,” he told the independent media.
Boada was arrested in February 2022 after receiving a summons for writing graffiti with the slogan “Díaz-Canel, motherfucker” on several occasions. In addition, the young man took photos of his actions and posted them on his social networks. Initially, he was taken to the State Security headquarters Villa Marista, where he again wrote sentences against the Government. Later he was transferred to Valle Grande, where he was seen somewhere in the prison with a sheet reading ’Patria y vida’ [Homeland and Life], which caused him to be taken to a punishment cell.
His family stated from the beginning that the young man – who studied in a “special school”– did not have “the mental capacity” to understand the acts he committed. The psychiatric expert report carried out for the trial, however, concluded that he did have criminal responsibility.
Boada’s family, which has described to the independent press the harassment suffered by the boy in prison, also warned that Jorge Luis suffers from epilepsy and requires constant medication, which is hard to sustain in prison, where the regime does not treat inmates appropriately.
In the trial, held last November 2023, two other people were indicted, Luis Andrés Domínguez Sardiñas, 47, and Yohan Carlos Terán Izquierdo, 25.
The Prosecutor’s Office alleged in its indictment that Domínguez intended to create “an environment of destabilization of the internal order and the country’s security”
The Prosecutor’s Office alleged in its indictment that Domínguez intended to create “an environment of destabilization of internal order and the country’s security,” calling for protests after the demonstrations of 11 July 2021.
Meanwhile, two “influential counterrevolutionaries” living abroad allegedly promised Boada and Domínguez to send them “rubber bands” to make slingshots, “alcohol to make incendiary devices,” spray to paint posters and perform other “actions of civil disobedience.”
The letter, to which the Spanish agency EFE had access, did not indicate whether the money and material were sent. During the trial, several neighborhoods in Havana were militarized to prevent popular protests, including Santos Suárez and La Víbora. In addition, other neighborhoods such as Luyanó suffered communication and internet blackouts.
Translated by L.A.R
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