Cuba: Political prisoner from Canada back in freedom

After more than a year and a half in prison, Canadian Michael Carey Abadin, who also holds Cuban citizenship, has been released, reports the International Society for Human Rights (IGFM).

Like Dresden resident Luis Frómeta Compte, the 20-year-old Canadian had been arrested during the July 2021 protests.

IGFM further reports that German-Cuban Luis Frómeta Compte was transferred to the Combinado del Este prison in Havana and suffers from inhumane conditions in the new cell.

“Dual nationals like Luis Frómeta Compte and Michael Carey Abadin are worth their weight in gold to the Cuban regime. They act as political pawns and a means of demonstrating power.”

“This makes it all the more important to make public the fate of these political prisoners and to show that they have not been forgotten.”

“We demand the immediate release of Luis Frómeta Compte, and we thank Lars Rohwer, member of the Bundestag in Dresden, who is tirelessly committed to Luis as a political sponsor,” explains Martin Lessenthin, spokesman of the board of IGFM.

UNHYGIENIC CONDITIONS AND POOR MEDICAL CARE

Luis Frómeta Compte was sentenced to 25 years in prison in December 2021 for “causing a public nuisance” and “inciting sedition” for spontaneously filming protests against the dictatorship with his smartphone for private purposes during a family visit to the Caribbean island in July.

The sentence was reduced to 15 years after the first appeal and confirmed in the second appeal.

IGFM is in close contact with his wife and two daughters living in Dresden.

“The new cell has no mosquito net; it is teeming with vermin, and the bed and mattress were broken. After our complaint, he got a new bed, but the conditions are still inhumane and exceedingly unsanitary,” explains Janie Frometa.

As of March 1, human rights experts counted 1,066 political prisoners in Cuba.

The Frankfurt-based IGFM is represented by a section on the Caribbean island and has been campaigning for the Dresden resident since his imprisonment in July 2021, with the support of Lars Rohwer, a member of the Bundestag.