Families of jailed Cuban protesters file petition for their freedom

Family members of 34 prisoners in Cuba who were jailed following anti-government protests in July 2021 have filed a petition with lawmakers seeking an amnesty for their loved ones.
According to rights groups, some 1,000 people were jailed in the wake of the protests, the largest since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. Some of those were immediately released, but hundreds are now serving sentences that range from a few years to over 20 years, according to NGO and official tallies.
The petition letter, filed on Friday, asks Ana Maria Mari Machado, vice president of the National Assembly, to begin the process of proposing and debating a law that would “recognize that there was no crime in expressing the will for democratic change by citizens who protested in July 2021.”