Cuba: PEN International and Artist at Risk Connection denounce the continued persecution of Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres
Credit: Lina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres (selfie), courtesy of the subjects.
Sustained judicial harassment underscores erosion of speech and protests rights on the island
5 June 2025: PEN International and Artists at Risk Connection (ARC) strongly condemn the escalating repression faced by Cuban academics and writers Alina Bárbara López Hernández and Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres throughout May 2025. Repressive actions against them stem from advancing legal proceedings, which include a possible prison sentence related to their critical expression and peaceful activism. PEN International and ARC call on the Cuban government to end the judicial harassment and drop the charges against the academics, as well as guarantee full respect for the right to peaceful assembly and the free exchange of ideas.
The charges brought against the academics and writers began on 18 June 2024, when López Hernández and Pantoja Torres were detained by police while en route to Havana to participate in a peaceful protest action they held monthly. During the arrest, they reported being subjected to violence by the authorities. According to López Hernández, when she asked why she was being detained, police physically assaulted her and forcibly pushed her into a car. In the struggle, she allegedly tore part of an officer’s uniform—the supposed basis for the charge she currently faces. Officers also reportedly threatened her with further violence and imprisonment.
They were held for 11 hours at the La Playa police station in Matanzas, interrogated, and charged with “attempt” to assault police officers in the line of duty, used to justify placing them under house arrest as a precautionary measure. Almost a year after the incident, the Cuban Public Prosecutor's Office submitted its preliminary findings in the case against López Hernández and Pantoja Torres. The details were made public by López Hernández via her Facebook profile. It was alleged that the writers’ actions “constitute a crime of DISOBEDIENCE provided for and punishable under Article 185.1, a crime of DISOBEDIENCE provided for and punishable under Article 189.1 and a crime of ATTACK provided for and punishable under Article 182.1.4 (a) of the Penal Code.” Such charges can potentially carry a prison sentence of numerous years, as well as fines.
According to the document submitted by Prosecutor Ana Lilian Caballero Arango to the Criminal Division of the Matanzas Municipal People's Court, both women are to stand trial for the crimes of assault, disobedience, and contempt. The prosecution is seeking a combined sentence of four years for López Hernández, commuted to correctional labor without internment, along with a travel ban and other restrictions. For Pantoja Torres, a three-year sentence is requested and similarly commuted.
In addition, both are expected to pay compensation for alleged material damages: 650 Cuban pesos (approx. 25 USD) for damaged police uniforms and 5,000 Cuban pesos (approx.196 USD.) for damaged hair extensions, as claimed by the complainant.
Essayist, historian, and academic Jenny Victoria Pantoja Torres is an anthropologist specialising in Afro-Cuban religious practices. She coordinates the Pro-Amnesty Committee for Political Prisoners in Cuba. Her book Del Templo al temple. Silencios y escándalos de la masonería cubana (Editorial Primigenios, 2022) explores the historical complexities of Cuban freemasonry. Alina Bárbara López Hernández is an essayist, editor, and researcher at Ediciones Matanzas. Her published works include Segundas Lecturas. Intelectualidad, política y cultura en la República burguesa (Second Readings: Intellectuality, Politics and Culture in the Bourgeois Republic), En tiempos de blogosfera (In Times of Blogosphere), and El (des)conocido Juan Marinello (The (Un)Known Juan Marinello).
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