HAVANA, August 18 (Regina del Sol, AIDH) – Rolando Valdés was detained on May 30 by the sector chief of police in Sagua la Grande, in central Cuba. The officer fined him 40 pesos and issued him a warning for the crime of selling bananas. The police confiscated his bananas and told
him that if he were caught selling them again he would be prosecuted according to the law on dangerousness.
In the same city, on June 10, Ernesto Trápaga was walking home with a bag of lemons and mangoes. On the way, he gave some of the lemons to Esther Julia, a friend. At the moment he was doing that, police officer Antonio Dreke approached them and confiscated the bag with the fruit and Trápaga’s
ID card. He told Trápaga that if he wanted to get his fruit back, he could go to the police station to claim them.
When Trápaga reached the station house, Dreke was not there and the officer on duty told him to come back the next day. At that time, he only was given back his ID card. When he asked for his mangoes and lemons, the political officer asked him whether he had any witnesses that Dreke had
taken them.
Trápaga explained that his friend Esther has witnessed the incident, but he didn’t get his fruit back.
Versión original en español
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