Jenny Victoria PANTOJA TORRES

During 2025, academic and activist Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres continued to be subjected to judicial and other forms of harassment, including arbitrary detention, surveillance, and an ongoing criminal case for the alleged offence of ‘assault’ (see Case List 2025). 

On 18 January 2025, Pantoja Torres was arbitrarily detained in Matanzas as part of the authorities’ efforts to prevent her from carrying out her monthly peaceful protest. On 18 February 2025, she was summoned for questioning at a police station in the municipality of Diez de Octubre in Havana and was subsequently arbitrarily detained outside her home. Authorities reportedly cited the non-payment of a fine imposed in 2023 as the reason for her detention. She was released after several hours. 

On 17 July 2025, Pantoja Torres reported that she had been excluded from an academic event for political reasons, and prevented her work from being presented in person. On 18 November 2025, her home was reportedly placed under police surveillance in order to prevent her from carrying out her monthly peaceful protest. On 18 December 2025, Pantoja Torres was again detained in Havana while attempting to participate in a peaceful demonstration. She was reportedly held for several hours at the Dragones and Zulueta police station and released close to midnight. 

In May 2025, the Matanzas Prosecutor’s Office sent her case for trial, formally requesting a sentence of up to three years’ imprisonment or corrective labour, under charges including ’assault’, linked to an incident in June 2024 (see Alina Bárbara López Hernández above). No trial had taken place by the end of the year. 

Essayist, historian and academic Jenny Pantoja Torres is a specialist in Cuban religious practices of African origin. Her book Del Templo al temple. Silencios y escándalos de la masonería cubana (Editorial Primigenios) was published in 2022.