Brutal attacker of 56 year old woman in Cuba gets away with attempted murder

Man who attempted to murder dissident gets six years but has a pass to leave prison when he wants.

The man who did this to Sirley in Cuba is free to walk the streets today

 Cuban human rights defender, Sirley Ávila León, age 56, was gravely wounded in a machete attack on May 24, 2015 at 3:00pm by Osmany Carrión who had been "sent by state security thugs." She lost her left hand while raising it to block a machete blow to the head that would have surely killed her wielded by Osmany Carrión. Carrión continued the attack striking again at her head and she blocked the blow with her right arm which the machete cut deep and through the bone, breaking it. At the same time Osmany's wife grabbed the severed hand and threw it into a filthy pig pen contaminating it so that it could not be re-attached. The attack went on with further machete blows on both legs. A detailed breakdown of the event was posted previously on this blog, and is repeated here for one simple reason.

In Cuba where there is not an independent judiciary and all is subject to the whims of the dictatorship the nature of the attack and the "judicial process" involving this case did not charge Osmany Carrión with aggravated attempted murder but with the lesser charge of "bodily injury" and sentenced him to six years in prison. However he has a pass to enter and leave the prison during this time effectively leaving him free, and adding weight to the charge that the attack was engineered by state security. While the UN celebrates the Castro regime's treatment of women this is what is happening in Castro's Cuba today. On the day of the attack Osmany Carrión told her that he would decapitate her and that he would not spend much, if any, time in prison for what he had done to her and the Castro regime has made that prediction a reality.


Meanwhile artists and musicians languish in prison for their artwork and lyrics.

Rights defender speaks out about machete attack in Cuba

"That person was prepared. He knew who I was, how I think and how to identify me. His goal was to end my life. Deprive me of my life. Why? Simply because I have demonstrated to the people that I know and where I live that Cuba needs freedom it is the time for people to be free." - Werlando Leyva Batista

Human rights defender Werlando Leyva Batista attacked

A video has emerged of Werlando Leyva Batista, member of the Christian Liberation Movement (MCL) who was attacked with a machete by a paramilitary agent on June 8, 2013 in Holguin, Cuba. The video was sent to Pedazos de la Isla by independent journalist Alexei Jimenez Almarales. In the video, we see Werlando in the hospital, with a cast on his arm, explaining what happened to him at the hands of his attacker, “Amauri”.

 

What is known so far... 

Eduardo Cardet Concepción of the Christian Liberation Movement, said that Leyva Batista had to have surgery as a result of machete wounds on his right forearm. “They yelled insults calling Werlando a worm, a counterrevolutionary, an opposition member [...] and then using a machete they attacked him,” said Cardet in a telephone message released by MCL.” Cardet later reported on June 10, 2013 that Leiva Werlando was "improving, today they changed his dressing, but until they remove the cast in a month they will not know if he regains all the mobility of the hand.

State security ensures that the individual who assaulted Werlando is detained (his name is Amaury Diaz Hernandez)" The attack is not an isolated incident but fits into an overall pattern of heightened repression that has targeted a number of Christian Liberation Movement activists.

In an interview with Radio Republica, the activist said that the worse blows with the machete were received in one hand and on one thigh, "the goal of the attacker was to end his life because he had taken it upon himself to provide training and do public activism in favor of freedom." In a declaration published by the Christian Liberation Movement, Werlando also described his work on "The Peoples Path" initiative.

 Independent journalist and Holguin native Alexei Jimenez Almarales sent the following report from the island to Pedazos de la Isla:  “More than 10 dissidents were threatened on the morning of June 12th for standing in front of the Lenin Hospital in the city of Holguin.  These human rights activists were showing solidarity with MCL activist Werlando Leyva Batista who received two machete blows three days ago.  They are at the Hospital under threats of being detained, as authorities have said they will call the police.   Those present are:  Yoel Ordeñe Garrotiza, Yonis Leon Abarta, Osnai Pérez Matinés, Luis Quintana, Julio Cesar Ramos Cúrvelo, Juan Carlos Iznaga Santisteban, Denis Pino Basulto, Liliana Campos Buzón, Robier Cruz Campo, Madelaine Escobar Barseló, Juan Carlos Reyes Ocaña, Jorge Taylor y Daniel Rodrigué Osorio”.

Early this morning the Christian Liberation Movement tweeted that State Security was trying to eject MCL activists from hospital in Holguin where they were visiting their colleage Werlando Leyva Batista and machete attack victim.