ALERT: Cuban regime seeks long prison sentences for artists Maykel Osorbo and Luis Manuel Otero

Cuban artists and prisoners of conscience Maykel "Osorbo" Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara were sentenced to 10 and 7 years of imprisonment, respectively, according to activist Anamely Ramos, who denounced on Thursday.

“Almost a month after the opening of the oral trial process, Maykel's and Luis's public prosecutor's petitions have come out. They are asking for ten years for Maykel and seven years for Luis", said the intellectual about the sentences that the rapper and the visual artist, founders of the dissident Movimiento San Isidro (MSI).

"More calmly, later, we will give details about the crimes that each one is charged with, as well as the other three defendants who intervened on April 4 with the arbitrary detention of Maykel," Ramos explained in a social media post.

The professor and art curator added that "for now, it is difficult to even think about, but we will make all the pertinent analyses and calls. We will not leave them alone.”

"How miserable that power that stops at nothing! How deeply miserable the reality of death they extend to everything they touch!" Anamely Ramos accused the Cuban regime. "It is always the same ones who get screwed, those who are always the worst off, those whom power considered disposable since they were born."

"From prison or wherever, Maykel and Luis are an inspiration and a symbol for Cubans. Down with the dictatorship! Long live Cuba Libre!", concluded Anamely Ramos.

Osorbo, winner of two Latin Grammy awards for the song "Patria y Vida," was arrested on May 18, 2021, and was missing for two weeks. He is being held in the "Kilo 5 y Medio" prison in Pinar del Río province.

On the other hand, Otero, included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world, was arrested on July 11. He tried to join peaceful anti-government demonstrations in Havana, which spread to more than 60 localities in the country and ended in clashes with police and soldiers following the order to repress given by President Miguel Díaz-Canel. The artist remains in the maximum rigorous prison of Guanajay and denounced medical neglect to the after-effects of a hunger strike.

The founding members of MSI share the same judicial record since the regime punished them for an act of civil disobedience on April 4, 2021. On that day, Osorbo resisted arbitrary detention and took refuge in the MSI headquarters in the San Isidro neighborhood of Havana. Dozens of neighbors, friends, and activists prevented the police from taking him away and defied the government by singing "Patria y Vida" (Homeland and Life) and other protest songs in the street.

Since August 2021, Luis Manuel Otero and Maykel Osorbo have been considered "prisoners of conscience" by Amnesty International (AI). Other civic and human rights organizations such as Freedom House, PEN International, the Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (Cadal), and Prisoners Defenders have called on Cuban authorities to release the artists and activists.

Érika Guevara Rosas, director of AI for the Americas, said this week in a meeting with artists in exile that "there is no other country that has as many prisoners of conscience as Cuba, at least in our continent."

The lawyer and human rights activist said that her organization asked "the Cuban authorities to allow Amnesty International to enter the country" to witness the trials for the July 11 and 12 demonstrations and others of a political nature, without results.

"We have spoken to diplomats and government representatives in various parts of the world to allow us to enter; the response has always been resounding: a silence that denies entry to demand respect for human rights," she added.