Free "El Sexto"

Free "El Sexto"
[26-08-2015 21:24:20]
Human Rights Foundation

(www.miscelaneasdecuba.net).- NEW YORK. – The Human Rights Foundation
(HRF) calls for the release of Cuban graffiti artist and activist Danilo
Maldonado Machado, best known as El Sexto, who has been arbitrarily
imprisoned for eight months in the Valle Grande prison, located west of
Havana.
El Sexto was arrested on December 25, 2014 while he was on his way to
put on a performance art piece called "Rebelión en la Granja"—the title
in Spanish of George Orwell's classic Animal Farm—which included two
pigs decorated with the names Fidel and Raúl.

El Sexto was charged with contempt, a crime punishable by up to three
years in prison. This past May, El Sexto was awarded the Václav Havel
International Prize for Creative Dissent for his bravery and ingenuity
in peacefully advocating for individual rights in Cuba.

"El Sexto is in prison for satirizing a family dynasty that for 57 years
has ruled Cuba with absolute power. The Castro regime arrests and
imprisons those who are critical of the government regardless of how
harmless that expression may be. What is most ironic is that Fidel and
Raúl Castro's reaction to the Animal Farm skit confirmed El Sexto's
underlying point. The Castros reacted precisely how Napoleon, the
porcine dictator depicted in George Orwell's satire, would respond when
met with criticism," said HRF president, Thor Halvorssen. "Just like the
barnyard dwellers in Orwell's novel, Cuban artists like Danilo
Maldonado, Tania Bruguera, or Gorki Águila are methodically punished for
refusing to abide by the capricious rules of a totalitarian regime that
lacks a sense of humor and represses even the slightest expression of
freedom," Halvorssen added.

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

Contact: Jamie Hancock – Human Rights Foundation, (212) 246-8486,
jamie@hrf.org

Source: Free 'El Sexto' - Misceláneas de Cuba -
http://www.miscelaneasdecuba.net/web/Article/Index/55de12643a682e13308ff80b#.Vd7y6vaqqko