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FROM
CUBA
Policeman
in mufti beats street vendor in Havana
HAVANA, December 18 (www.cubanet.org)
- Just before noon on Saturday, December
6, on a busy street corner in Old Havana,
a man in civilian clothes alighted from
an official Special Brigades car and beat
up a crippled street vendor, scattering
his merchandise.
Bystanders reported that the man is a police
officer, citing as evidence that, not only
he came in an official car, but that he
used handcuffs and a police truncheon during
the beating. The assailant, people said,
later left the scene with other police officers
who showed up.
The vendor, a man between 45 and 50, is
crippled in one leg and walks with the aid
of two canes.
A number of passersby congregated at the
scene and protested the beating. The first,
a woman dressed all in white, indicating
a devotee of the Afro-Cuban religion, yelled
at the man to stop being abusive, since
the vendor was almost an invalid and hadn't
done any harm.
The presumed policeman turned to her and
said: "Yes, I beat him, so what?"
As the crowd grew larger and more vociferous,
a uniformed policeman undid the handcuffs
and they all left, leaving the vendor on
the floor and his meager wares scattered
all over.
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