Activist Carlos Michael Morales sentenced to eight months of house arrest

MIAMI, United States. – Activist and independent journalist Carlos Michael Morales Rodríguez was released from prison and transferred home to serve an eight-month sentence of house arrest, the Complaints Center of the Foundation for Pan-American Democracy (FDP) confirmed on Tuesday.

The organization denounced the “visible poor state of health” of the promoter of the citizen initiative Cuba Decide. Independent journalists and activists also published images on social media showing the physical condition of Morales Rodríguez after being sent home.

This is how Carlos Michael Rodríguez left the dungeons of the Cuban dictatorship, after being unjustly imprisoned#ProhibidoOlvidar
taken from the profile of @MercedesPerdig2 pic.twitter.com/INmABhLusG

— Jose Luis Tan Estrada (@JLperiodista96) July 23, 2024

The FDP’s Complaints Centre stated that the “rigged trial” against the activist and independent journalist concluded on Friday, July 19.

He also indicated that during the trial, the prosecution “tried unsuccessfully” to accuse Morales Rodríguez of the alleged crime of “mercenaryism,” using “manipulated testimonies and falsified summons with altered dates.”

“Despite the initial request for one year of imprisonment, the final sentence was eight months of house arrest,” the organization said.

The FDP Whistleblower Center also called for “underlining the importance of protecting the most vulnerable in Cuba.”

“Our commitment,” the organization wrote on Facebook, “is to denounce and activate the necessary mechanisms to safeguard pro-human rights and democracy activists, who are brutally repressed by the authorities of the Cuban regime and subjected to inhuman, cruel and degrading treatment.”

Morales Rodríguez was arrested on May 4 in Caibarién, Villa Clara, after several incidents of police harassment. He immediately began his first hunger strike, which he ended on May 22 while awaiting the response to the habeas corpus filed by his lawyer. When this appeal was denied, Morales resumed his hunger strike in a desperate effort to regain his freedom and protect himself from torture.

The activist and independent journalist finally ended his hunger strike on Wednesday, May 22, after 19 days of fasting.