Cuban Church Leader's Trial Finally Set After One Year In Jail
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
CUBA (ANS) -- A Cuban pastor will finally face trial next week in the
city of Camaguey, Cuba, after spending a whole year in prison.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), government
prosecutors are asking that Pastor Omar Gude Perez, who was initially
detained on May 22, 2008, be given a seven-year sentence.
CSW says that although he is facing criminal charges, there are strong
indications that he is being targeted due to his leadership role in a
fast growing Christian organisation.
State prosecutors first attempted to charge Pastor Gude Perez with
"Human Trafficking." These charges were dropped in March 2009 after a
court in Camaguey found that they were without evidence.
However, CSW says that Pastor Gude Perez was not released from prison,
and in mid-April new charges of Falsification of Documents and Illicit
Economic Activities were filed.
CSW explains that the prosecution's new petition goes on to accuse the
Pastor of "counter-revolutionary conduct and attitudes." The prosecution
also states that he is unemployed, despite the fact that he has worked
as a full-time Pastor for the last twenty years.
Pastor Gude Perez's wife and others who are familiar with the case have
told CSW that Pastor Gude Perez and his family received threats from
government officials to curtail their religious activities in the months
prior to the Pastor's detention.
A number of other leaders and members of their religious group, the
"Apostolic Reformation," a country-wide, non-denominational Christian
movement, have also received threats and been harassed by the authorities.
CSW goes on to explain that since Raul Castro took power in early 2008,
there has been an increase in reported violations of religious liberty.
Another Pastor and denominational leader, Reverend Roberto Rodriguez, of
Placetas, Cuba has also been the subject of ongoing legal proceedings
against him and members of his family.
The legal harassment began after the Interdenominational Fellowship of
Evangelical Pastors and Ministers in Cuba (Spanish acronym; CIMPEC)
withdrew from the Cuban Council of Churches (CCC) under Reverend
Rodriguez's leadership.
Pastor Gude Pérez's wife, Kenia, is only allowed to visit her husband in
prison every 21 days. She has complained that she is harassed by the
guards when she visits. As in similar cases, the children are not
allowed to visit their father.
Pastor Gude Pérez is one of the main leaders of a non-denominational,
non-political religious movement in Cuba known as the "Apostolic
Reformation."
CSW says the group, which is comprised of independent self-governing
non-denominational churches, outside of the traditional, officially
recognized denominations, is viewed with suspicion by the government.
Many members of the Apostolic Reformation have made a deliberate
decision to leave officially recognized churches and denominations,
which usually have strong ties to their counterparts outside of Cuba.
This lack of association therefore makes groups like the Apostolic
Reformation particularly vulnerable to harassment, CSW stated.
Church leaders have reported that their phones are tapped, leaders are
watched and threatened, and many church members have been threatened
with loss of employment if they do not leave these churches.
Alexa Papadouris, CSW's Advocacy Director said: "CSW is calling for the
immediate release of Pastor Gude Perez. The fact that it has taken a
year for the Cuban authorities to come up with criminal charges against
Pastor Gude Perez demonstrates the absurdity of his imprisonment and
gives credibility to the widespread belief that he is being targeted
because of his leadership of an 'un-official' religious community.
"We remind the Cuban government of the protections laid out in the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which it signed
last year, and call on the authorities to guarantee the right to freedom
of religion and belief for all."
CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious
freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs
and promotes religious liberty for all.
For further information, or to arrange an interview, please contact
Theresa Malinowska, Press Officer at Christian Solidarity Worldwide on
+44 (0)20 8329 0045 / +44 (0)78 2332 9663, email
theresamalinowska@csw.org.uk or visit www.csw.org.uk
Cuban Church Leader's Trial Finally Set After One Year In Jail (13 May 2009)
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