US blasts Cuban gov't sentencing of protesters as 'unconscionable' and 'outrageous'

HAVANA, (Reuters) - The United States yesterday blasted a Cuban court's decision to sentence a group of protesters to as many as 15 years in jail, calling the recent judgment "unconscionable" and "outrageous."

The protests, which took place in the small eastern Cuban port city of Nuevitas in the summer of 2022, flared during a time when power outages had grown severe in the region, pushing hundreds of frustrated citizens to take to the streets.

The Cuban government tried and found 13 of those who participated in the protest guilty of crimes ranging from sabotage to sedition, according to a sentencing document viewed by Reuters. One woman was found not guilty due to lack of evidence.

The majority of the penalties ranged from 10 to 15 years in prison, which the United States and several human rights groups on Monday classified as heavyhanded.

"The harsh sentencing this week of up to 15 years in prison for Cubans who peacefully assembled in Nuevitas in 2022 is outrageous," said Brian Nichols, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs on X.

"The Cuban government's continued repression of Cubans striving to fulfill their basic rights and needs is unconscionable."

The Cuban government did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the statement from Nichols.

Cuba's handling of protests on the island is a major sticking point in the increasingly frosty relationship between long-time foes the United States and Cuba.

Following island-wide anti-government protests on July 11, 2021 - the largest since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution - the Cuban government jailed hundreds, prompting a sharp rebuke from the United States, the European Union and rights groups.

The Cuban government says those it has jailed during island protests have been tried and found guilty of other crimes, including public disobedience, vandalism and sedition, and denies human rights violations.

Cuba's 2019 constitution grants citizens the right to protest, but a law more specifically defining that right is stalled in the legislature, leaving those who take to the street in legal limbo.