Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo, an evangelical Cuban pastor who has been imprisoned since 2021 for participating in peaceful protests, was released in mid-January as part of a mass amnesty, an international human rights organization reported.
Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported Fajardo was released Jan. 17 from Mar Verde prison. The Cuban government said it planned to release 553 political prisoners following the White House announcement the U.S. Department of State would remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
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Fajardo’s release came days after the release of Donaida Pérez Paseiro, an Afro-Cuban Yoruba religious leader. Her husband Loreto Hernandez Garcia remains in prison.
Anna Lee Stangl, director of advocacy for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, stated: “CSW welcomes the release of pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo and of Donaida Pérez Paseiro, neither of whom should ever have spent a day in detention in the first place. They have endured abusive treatment and been forcibly separated from their spouses and children since July 2021.
“We call on the Cuban government to immediately release Loreto Hernández García, and to ensure that Pastor Rosales Fajardo and all political prisoners and their families enjoy their freedom without any further harassment.”
Accused of attack on Cuban Communist Party HQ
Fajardo, pastor of the nondenominational Monte de Sion Church in Palma Soriano, was arrested after he and some members of his church participated in nationwide protests on July 11, 2021.
A document the Cuban government sent to the United Nations claimed Fajardo was involved in a violent attack on the headquarters of the Cuban Communist Party in Palma Soriano — a charge Fajardo denied.
Video and photographic evidence showed Black Beret paramilitary personnel and police attacking Farjardo and other unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest.
Fajardo was charged with four crimes under the Cuban Criminal Code — criminal incitement, public disorder, disrespect and assault. He initially received an eight-year prison sentence, which later was reduced to seven years.
‘Arbitrary detention’
During his initial detention at the Versalles State Security facility, Farjardo reportedly was beaten by guards, who also urinated on him. He lost a tooth due to physical abuse. The following month, he was moved to Boniato Maximum Security Prison and later to La Coaba prison before his transfer to Mar Verde prison.
“In 2022, in the days leading up to Easter, prison officials subjected him to solitary confinement in a ‘punishment cell’ for his refusal to obey orders to stop sharing his faith inside the prison,” the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance wrote in a statement released last June.
Fajardo appealed his case, but a Cuban court upheld his sentence in June 2022. During the court hearings, only the prosecution was permitted to present evidence.
In February 2024, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention determined Fajardo’s treatment violated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in multiple ways and constituted “arbitrary detention.”
After this article was published, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released a statement on Jan. 18 welcoming the release of Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo and Donaida Pérez Paseiro, along with Santeria practitioner Lisidiani Rodriguez Isaac. Commissioner Susie Gelman also stated: “USCIRF continues to call for the release of all Cuban religious leaders wrongfully imprisoned for participating in the July 11, 2021 protests, such as Loreto Hernández García, We urge the U.S. Department of State to make clear to the Cuban authorities that those who remain wrongfully imprisoned must be released and to remain vigilant to confront any future harassment, intimidation, or detention by the Cuban government.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by and originally published by Baptist Standard.
