Cuban Military Tribunal keeps Eddy Ceballos imprisoned for disclosure of State secrets
The Military Tribunal rejected all defence motions and keeps Ceballos in pre-trial detention. His family alleges that the tribunal misrepresented his statements.
Military Tribunal refuses to release Eddy Ceballos and family accuses manipulation of statements
The Cuban Military Tribunal rejected all motions presented by the defence of Eduardo "Eddy" Ceballos Pérez during a judicial hearing held on Monday, and maintained the digital creator in pre-trial detention, according to cibercuba.com. At the same time, the family alleged that the ruling attributes to him a confession of the facts that, they assert, he never made.
According to the notification received by relatives, the tribunal held that "there exist in the proceedings elements that link the defendant with the criminal act, which was acknowledged by him from the outset, as the defence representative assured". The ruling also justified the refusal to modify the precautionary measure due to "the severity of the acts associated with State security".
Marieta Pérez, Ceballos's mother, described that statement as "alarming and contradictory" and asserted that the very statements incorporated into the case file say the opposite. According to Pérez, her son gave four statements during the investigation phase—two before his lawyer took on the case—and in all of them he denied having any intention to commit acts of espionage.
"The tribunal not only denies the presumption of innocence as a right, nor does it address the lack of evidentiary elements, but furthermore alters the statements taken from the defendant", the mother alleged. She demanded that "the actual case file be respected, that manipulation of the narrative cease, and that a fair, transparent process be guaranteed and in accordance with the truth of the facts".
Wife also rejects official account
Daniela Escarra, Ceballos's wife and mother of his daughter, categorically denied the version contained in the judicial ruling. "This is false. Entirely false and hardly credible. Since his detention on 1 June, Eddy has maintained his innocence in all his statements. It is his current position", she stated.
Escarra has also alleged irregularities in the construction of the case and accuses the authorities of fabricating elements of the prosecution. "They invent evidence. They premeditate the crime. They create a case without basis. And yet the tribunal goes along with it", she wrote on Facebook.
From video in military facility to espionage accusation
Ceballos, creator of the satirical channel Despingovery Channel, was arrested on 1 June in the municipality of Diez de Octubre, Havana, after publishing a video in which he toured an abandoned military facility where Soviet missiles from the 1960s, radars and Cold War bunkers appeared.
The case, which was initially linked to an accusation of "trespass on military property", resulted in a considerably more serious charge: "disclosure of secrets concerning State Security", provided for in article 116.3 of the Cuban Penal Code. The penalties provided for in that article can reach up to 30 years' imprisonment, perpetual deprivation of liberty or capital punishment, depending on the legal basis and circumstances of the case.
The decision made known on Monday represents another setback for the defence's attempts to secure Ceballos's release pending trial proceedings. The Public Prosecutor's Office rejected a first motion for modification of the precautionary measure in August, and the family alleged a further rejection in early September.
"I am an artist, not a spy"
From prison, Ceballos has publicly rejected the allegations against him. In August he sent a letter in which he summarised his position with a phrase: "I am an artist, not a spy".
The cameraman for Despingovery Channel, Christian Rodríguez Riverón, was detained weeks later and also faces an accusation linked to the case. He remains held in the facility known as "El Reloj Club", in Boyeros.
Ceballos has spent nearly four months in pre-trial detention without a trial date being announced. His wife alleged in July that the authorities intended to turn the case into a cautionary example for other digital creators and, according to her words, "send a message of fear".
Source: Google News CU — Crime