Military Court keeps Eddy Ceballos in custody despite family denying admission of guilt
The Military Court rejected a review of Eddy Ceballos's pre-trial detention and claimed he admitted the facts. His mother and wife categorically deny this.
Family of Eddy Ceballos contradicts court that keeps him in prison
The Military Court rejected a review of the precautionary situation of Eddy Ceballos, creator of the Despingovery Channel, and maintained his pre-trial detention on the grounds that the accused recognised the facts attributed to him from the outset. His mother and wife claim that this assertion is false and contradicts the four statements Ceballos has given during the investigative phase, according to cubanoticias360.com.
The defence had requested judicial review to reconsider the precautionary measure. The court not only denied the hearing, but also refused to replace the prison sentence with a less severe measure. In its ruling, the court stated that "there exist in the proceedings elements linking the accused to the criminal act, which was recognised by him from the outset", and added the "harmfulness of the acts associated with State security" as grounds for keeping him imprisoned.
The mother: "the file tells another story"
Marieta Pérez, mother of the accused, posted an excerpt of the ruling on Facebook and rejected the reference to the alleged admission. According to her account, Ceballos gave four statements during the investigative phase, two of them before his lawyer formally assumed his defence. In all of them, he allegedly rejected having acted with the intention to commit espionage.
"It is alarming and contradictory that it is officially stated that there exists 'admission of guilt' when the file tells another story", wrote Pérez. The mother accused the court of presenting as an admission something that, in her view, does not appear that way in her son's statements. "Any intention to commit espionage has been flatly denied", she stated.
Pérez further demanded that judicial decisions conform to what is on record in the actual file. "We demand that the actual file be respected, that the manipulation of the narrative cease, and that a fair, transparent process be guaranteed, adhering to the truth of the facts", she wrote. She also warned against any premature conclusion: "A judge cannot prejudge or assume unproven facts as truths".
The wife: "this is false, totally false"
Daniela Escarra, Ceballos's wife, was even more direct in her challenge to the ruling. "The court claims that Eddy 'admitted guilt' for the crime of ESPIONAGE. This is false. Totally false and hardly credible", she wrote on Facebook.
Escarra maintained that the content creator's position has not changed since his detention on 1 June. "Eddy has proclaimed his INNOCENCE in all his statements. That is his current position", she insisted. She also accused the authorities of building the file without sufficient evidence: "They invent evidence. They premeditate the crime. They create a case without basis. And yet the court goes along with it". The wife announced that the family would continue to make public what it considers irregularities in the proceedings.
The letter from prison and the origin of the case
The family's version aligns with what Ceballos himself expressed in a letter circulated in early August. "I am an artist, not a spy; a humorist who shows the reality that is visible to all, not a criminal. I am innocent", wrote the content creator from prison.
Ceballos was arrested on 1 June after publishing a video in which he toured a disused military installation in Havana. The material showed structures and equipment from the Soviet era. His detention resulted in an investigation for alleged crimes against State security. By August, a previous petition to modify the precautionary measure had already been rejected, and the process has continued without reaching trial.
A particularly controversial point
The new ruling leaves open a fundamental contradiction: the Military Court maintains that Ceballos recognised elements linking him to the investigated fact, whilst the mother and wife claim that the four statements from the accused maintain the opposite position. Pérez called for that contradiction to be clarified within the proceedings themselves before conclusions are reached about her son's responsibility.
Source: Google News CU — Crime