HRF to Cuba: Allow El Sexto to Meet With His International Lawyer

Yesterday, Motley tried to visit Maldonado at his last known detention site, Havana’s El Combinado del Este maximum security prison. Motley was barred from seeing Maldonado, and was denied access to basic information regarding official charges. Today, Motley plans to go to El Combinado del Este again to keep demanding access to Machado and his case file. She also plans to visit prisoner of conscience Eduardo Cardet, who was beaten and arrested for saying Fidel Castro was “hated” by the Cuban people during a telephone interview.

“After several hours outside the El Combinado del Este prison demanding information about Danilo [Maldonado], all I was told is that he is in fact been held there at unit number three, collective 29, of the company 3208,” said Motley in a phone conversation with HRF. “According to Article 58 of the Cuban Constitution ‘freedom and inviolability of persons is assured to all those who live in the country,’ and that includes Danilo. Unfortunately, he’s been in prison for over 21 days without formal charges and, as a consequence, has decided to go into hunger strike. Today, I hope that any remnant of the rule of law in Cuba is respected, and that I’ll be allowed to see Danilo,” she added.

Yesterday, HRF submitted an individual complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), requesting that they initiate proceedings to investigate the arbitrary arrest and ongoing detention of El Sexto.

Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.

TAKE ACTION! Sign a petition for the release of prisoner of conscience Danilo Maldonado Machado and help to expose and denounce the crimes of the Cuban regime.

CONTACT: Cuban officials and ask them for the release of Maldonado:

Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez, Ambassador

Cuban Permanent Mission at the United Nations

Address: 315 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY, 10016

Telephone: (212) 689-7215

Fax: (212) 689 9073

Email: [email protected]

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