Jul 22, 2021 - World

Cuba tries protesters en masse

Marina E. Franco (Noticias Telemundo for Axios)

A young man, later identified as university student Leonardo Romero Negrín, is arrested during the July 11 protests.

The Cuban regime is conducting summary trials in which up to 30 people are convicted at a time for participating in the recent mass protests, an international organization of jurists warns.

Details: The hearings are being carried out without lawyers present and without the accused even knowing what the charges are against them, per the group Cuban Prisoner’s Defenders.

By the numbers: Over 500 people are known to be detained. At least a dozen of them are minors, and parents say they haven’t been able to reach most of them.

Reports of beatings of those teenagers who were in or near the July 11 protests also have surfaced as the government eases its shutdown of the internet.

The big picture: Cuba has the highest rate of COVID-19 contagion per capita in Latin America, an infection rate nine times higher than the world average this past week, one of the reasons people in the island participated in the mass protests.

Go deeper: U.S. sanctions Cuban officials over protest crackdown

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Cuba tries protesters en masse

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