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His imprisonment could be a government maneuver to deprive him of his land, says his sister Omara Urquiola.
Your land is not politics, but the Cuban environmental heritage.
Cuban Ariel Ruiz Urquiola ended on Tuesday a hunger strike and thirst that he led for 16 days
. Biological Sciences of 43 years was sentenced to one year in prison for "outrage" .
With his protest, he claimed the government of his country for what he regards as a politicized lawsuit .
"They informed me that they would give me an" extrapenal "license" for health reasons, "says BBC Mundo in a telephone conversation from his home, where he is recovering.
The first thing he tried when he stopped the strike was a mango juice that was given to him by the staff of Abel Santamaría Hospital in the western province of Pinar del Río , where he was transferred from prison when his health faltered
.] Ruiz Urquiola says that the vipbadana meditation helped him "to alleviate suffering" in prison.
"During the strike, I'm out of jail. was convinced that when you were deprived of your liberty you can choose to liberate yourself .
When Urquiola is seen talking in the few videos posted on YouTube by activists and the media, he seems to be an informed and energetic man. Someone really committed to what he defends
Image copyright Omara Urquiola
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The Urquiola family fears that the "extrapenal license" will be used later to take Ariel back to the prison.
His sister describes him as "a man of principles, who does not understand the reasons for the protection of Cuban environmental heritage".
Amnesty International declared "prisoner of conscience" and demanded that he be released "immediately and unconditionally" .
End of June spokesman of the US State Department He expressed particular concern about the ecologist.
The confrontation with the authorities who left him in prison began on May 3rd.
While he was working on the fence of his farm in the Viñales National Park – a declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO – two members of the Guards Corps entered the Urquiola property. .
They wanted him to show them the legal authorizations for the activities he carried out, as well as the ownership of his work tools, according to witnesses who spoke to Amnesty International and a video in which the scientist recorded the moment of the incident. 19659025] Image copyright Getty Images
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The biologist reported violations of environmental codes in the Viñales National Park, declared a World Heritage Site by L & D # 39; UNESCO.
After an exchange of words in which the "visitors" refused to identify Urquiola compared his procedures with those of the "rural guard", a repressive apparatus of the de facto government of Fulgencio Batista in the 1950s.
Assures that, despite the ordering of all documents, the following day was cited and detained by the police of Viñales.
He was accused of " desacato " to the authorities.
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The trial took place five days later.
The jury rejected the defense resources, which included a video recording where the environmentalist documents the officers' visit to his farm and the irregularities in his treatment.
According to lawyers consulted by independent Cuban media, for a citizen like him – useful in society and without a criminal record – the maximum penalty of one year for contempt is considered as unusual.
The parents of the biologist maintain that the trial was politicized .
Uncomfortable for the authorities
Although this episode was the straw that broke the camel's back, Urquiola had already had clashes with the authorities.
In his scientific career, Urquiola has developed projects that have more than once ended up pointing and exposing different government institutions.
For example, in 2008, he denounced at an academic event in Baja California that the island government allowed the illegal fishing of sea turtles in danger of d & # 39; extinction .
Image copyright Getty Images
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The scientist was able to demonstrate in his doctoral thesis that Cuba did not have the right to fish hawksbill turtles, marine turtle species threatened with extinction.
"Cuba was the only country in the world with legal resources for fishing these turtles ," Urquiola told BBC Mundo.
Following his complaint, he said, "Cuba has ceased to receive a millionaire income from hawksbill turtle exports to Japan, so this investigation has caused huge monetary losses to the government." [19659007] After that, the University of Havana prevented him from defending his doctoral dissertation for a year, and imposed other penalties such as demotion to a lower grade position and a lower economic remuneration.
He states that in 2016, when his critics made him uncomfortable, the Marine Research Center of the University of Havana dismissed him.
Copyright of the Image Omara Urquiola
Photo Caption
Ariel Ruiz Urquiola is a strong activist for environmental conservation in Cuba.
That is why he decided to rent a farm in Viñales, where he could develop projects like the one he had until his arrest: the construction of a biogranja for The conservation of endemic species as in Cuba as the Caribbean mahogany.
But this new scientific project also caused friction with local authorities
The biologist denounced how tourists and peasants in the region violated the environmental codes stipulated, after collecting 82 illegal traps. for hunting hunting (a rodent species in danger of extinction) and brought them to the authorities.
Affirms that no one has paid attention.
"To remove the land"
The Urquiola farm was
Cuban law establishes that the usufruct of a land owned by the state loses the right to enjoy it if he is absent more than six months.
The sister of the biologist, Omara Urquiola, thinks that the lawsuit against him hides a maneuver of the local government to remove the farm .
Copyright of the image Omar to Urquiola
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"The case of my brother highlights the state of corruption and lack of control of the legal system in Cuba, "said Omara Urquiola.
"Neither my principles nor my values allow me to live in a state of shame, which puts me on an equal footing with a criminal and I am not a delinquent " Urquiola had told his sister. Nine Differences Between Chinese Communism and Cuba
"The case of my brother highlights the state of corruption and lack of control of the legal system in Cuba and the way in which the judicial proceedings are tainted. irregularities, "says Omara, who is a university professor on the island.
Copyright of the Image Writer Omara Urquiola
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Ariel Ruiz Urquiola was sentenced to the maximum penalty of one year d & # x Imprisonment for "disrespect" to the authorities.
The island government has not ruled on the case of this scientist, and he has not done so either after the request of the BBC Mundo.
For the Urquiola brothers, it remains to be seen what their liberation really means.
According to the Cuban Penal Code, the "extra-penal permit" is a legal entity that "the court may grant to persons sentenced to deprivation of liberty, for justified reasons and on request, (…) during the time considered necessary. "
" This document must be reviewed with lawyers and from there decide how I continue in the fight for my rights as a citizen of Cuba since I have not committed any crime or any disease, "the scientist insists
The Urquiola family fears that this will be used later to bring him back to prison
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