Havana tribunal denies conditional release to Idolidia Carrasco for third time
The Havana Provincial Court rejected for the third time the conditional release request for political prisoner Idolidia Carrasco Lobo, sentenced to four years in prison.
Political prisoner in Cuba sees conditional release denied for third time
The Havana Provincial Court rejected for the third time the request for conditional release for Idolidia Carrasco Lobo, who is serving a four-year sentence in a correctional facility attached to the Guatao Women's Prison, according to martinoticias.com.
A relative close to Carrasco Lobo, who requested not to be identified, told the outlet: "She has good behaviour and is complying with everything that has been established. This is yet another example of repression because of her political case and she is imprisoned unjustly."
The same source added: "I would like this to be made known so that international courts could see what is happening here and why they are not granting freedom to a person who only did was protest."
Court argument and fresh rejection
According to documents from the first two denials, which martinoticias.com had access to, the court initially argued that Carrasco Lobo had not completed the legal third of her sentence, the count of which began on 23 May 2024 and ends on 14 May 2028.
However, the prison authorities resubmitted the request last month, once that deadline had been exceeded, and the court denied it again. "She has now completed the legal third of her sentence and yet they did not approve the benefit to which she is entitled. That is why I believe they are punishing her doubly because of her political status," the family source said.
Sentence for protesting in Güines
Carrasco Lobo was found guilty of public disorder, contempt of court and aggravated contempt of court after participating in a protest in Güines, her place of residence, in which a group of neighbours took to the streets with saucepans to demand the restoration of the electricity supply. The protesters blocked a road and set rubbish bins on fire.
In the provisional conclusions presented to the trial, the prosecutor argued that Carrasco Lobo maintained, before her arrest, hostile conduct towards the "revolutionary process and its leaders."
Ministry of the Interior, de facto arbitrator
Independent lawyers explained to martinoticias.com that early release is formally granted by the execution tribunal, but with the approval of the Ministry of the Interior's leadership, which oversees the prison centres. It is these officials who determine, in practice, which inmates advance in the benefits system and which do not.
Often, political prisoners are denied prison benefits—including conditional release—on the grounds that they represent a threat to social stability or to "socialist morality."
Source: Google News CU — La Habana