Opposition protest threat cancels dissident’s trial

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Opposition protest threat cancels dissident’s trial
By Directorio Democrático Cubano

In a victory for the Cuban opposition, activists planned to protest in front of the courtroom where Lázaro Alonso Román was to be tried in Havana. The trial was suspended due to the regime’s growing fear of a united opposition movement.

HAVANA, May 23, 2007 - Former political prisoner Lázaro Alonso Román, released from prison on April 24 after serving a 2-year sentence, was newly arrested in Havana by police on May 18. He was then informed at Dragones Prison that he would be tried for resisting arrest and contempt on Wednesday May 23rd, charges which could lead to another year of imprisonment.

Upon hearing about the incident, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, president of the National Assembly to Promote Civil Society, called on all opposition members in Havana to protest in front of the Spanish embassy.

“Since Mr. Moratinos said the release of these prisoners was due to his visit to Cuba, we thought the Spanish should know about this case”, commented Roque Cabello to the Cuban Democratic Directorate.

“That afternoon, a major by the name of Carrazana called Manuel Pérez Soria, another one of the prisoners released that day along with Lazaro. Carranza told Pérez Soria that no one should go to protest at the trial because they were going to release Lazaro. However, Lazaro had called me to say the trial was in fact set for Wednesday. At that moment we all joined together, opposition members from Havana and the provinces, to respond to this injustice. Many were detained on their way to Havana, but others were able to arrive. In the afternoon, I received a call from a lieutenant informing me that the trial had been suspended. We have spoken to the opposition to cancel the protest”, explained Roque.

According to Jorge Luis García Pérez Antúnez, coordinator of the Pedro Luis Boitel Political Prisoners Association and member of the Cuban Human Rights Rapporteur Council founded on May 14, internal opposition activists from different prisons and municipalities felt moved by their consciences, deciding to take part in this act of resistance at the tribunal to be in solidarity with Lázaro Alonso Román.

“We were going to protest in front of the tribunal, but it seems the authorities, knowing of this popular support and solidarity, decided to suspend the trial”, said Antúnez. “We feel satisfied because this demonstrates unity, cohesion, and the power of a united opposition.”

“We will not continue to allow the repression of our brothers and sisters. We will show our presence wherever someone is in danger”, continued Antúnez, a former political prisoner who served a 17 year sentence and was released this past April.

Alonso Román spoke to the Cuban Democratic Directorate to express his gratitude to the opposition on the same day he was to be tried, Wednesday May 23. “I want to tell the Cuban people and the opposition proper that once again we have shown the regime that there is strength in unity. We must continue practicing the kind of solidarity that all my brothers have offered me. Today it happened to me, but we must practice solidarity with other brothers that might fall victim to the political police’s trumped up charges. The power of nonviolence can accomplish much if we exert it together.”

Alonso Román also mentioned the names of some people to whom he was grateful: Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, Elizardo Sánchez Santa Cruz, Jorge Luis García Pérez Antúnez, Juan Carlos González Leiva, Julio César Lopez, Emilio Leiva, Manuel Pérez Soria. This former political prisoner, whom the regime feared to imprison because of the pressure exerted by the opposition, finished by saying “Thank you very much. We have shown the Cuban people that we are not afraid; that they should not be afraid; that the strength to remove the yoke we have been carrying in our country for 48 years is found in unity.”

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