Nearly 60 people have been prosecuted in relation to unprecedented anti-government protests that broke out in Cuba earlier this month, a senior Cuban official has said, vowing that due process was being followed amid international criticism.
The cases were over minor charges, and the total number of people detained has not been released amid complaints from relatives seeking information about loved ones.
“Until yesterday, 19 judicial processes had reached the municipal courts of the country – cases involving 59 people accused of committing alleged crimes (during) these disturbances,” Ruben Remigio Ferro, president of the Supreme Court, told reporters on Saturday.
Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in several locations, including the capital Havana, on July 11 and 12 to demand government action amid an economic crisis and food shortages made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
The protesters shouted “Freedom”, “Down with the dictatorship” and “We’re hungry” in what were the largest protests on the island in decades.
