Thursday, March 26, 2015

Online and real world campaign to free Cuban artist launched

Three months in jail and counting for his art.


 On March 28 at 3pm at La Paja Recold located on Ave 35 #4202 between 42 & 44 Apartment 5 in Havana, Cuba there will be a concert, expo, performance and "disrespect" all under the headline: "Freedom for Danilo." These members of civil society are testing the boundaries of what is permissible in Cuba. Increased international visibility may provide some protection.

Became aware of this event via a tweet sent by Yoani Sanchez on March 25, 2015 with the above poster.

The graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado, known as El Sexto, remains imprisoned in Valle Grande prison. Today, March 26, marks three months that he has been imprisoned. Authorities rejected the habeas corpus appeal presented by independent attorney Laritza Diversent, of the NGO Cubalex .

For now, according to the independent lawyer, there is still no trial date set and she hopes that there will be a change of custody, because the events in which El Sexto is involved are a “misdemeanor.”
Also, Diversent said that she had sent information to international bodies so that they will speak out on the situation of the graffiti artist.


Fellow activists and supporters have been using the hashtag “#FreeElSexto” to promote solidarity and the immediate release of the independent Cuban artist. In addition, there is an online signature campaign underway calling for the freedom of Danilo Maldonado.

Marc Masferrer, of Uncommon Sense, broke the news on his blog that Cuban artists, including punk rocker Gorki Aguila and his band, Porno Para Ricardo, launched an online campaign on March 21, 2015 to demand that the Castro dictatorship release Danilo from jail.

As the group People In Need reported last month, El Sexto was "detained on December 26, 2014 on the Malecón esplanade in Havana as he was driving towards the Central Park to make a performance with two pigs whose bodies were painted with the names of Cuban leaders: 'Fidel' and 'Raúl.'

On March 6, 2015 the punk band Porno para Ricardo released a video calling for Danilo's release that now has over 6,032 views and the lyrics translated to English are available here.

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