📝 According to the ruling of the Santiago de Cuba municipal people’s court, composed of judges Irina Díaz Delis, Hugo Liens Martínez, and Noelia Rodríguez Martínez, the incident took place on September 5, 2024. The court document states that Estrada Ferrer was approached at that moment by communist counterintelligence officer Mario Raciel Soulary Garcés, who identified himself as a soldier and demanded that the citizen stop filming and hand over his ID.

⁉️ The official version claims the defendant refused to hand over his ID, used “offensive language,” and later “struck the agent during the encounter.” However, according to the OCDH, the narrative “seeks to portray the agent as the victim, when in reality he was the one who violently grabbed Estrada Ferrer and stole his phone.” The entity stressed that “it is common for these agents to intervene with violent repression and then present themselves as victims.”

❌ The NGO also pointed out that the agent’s initial intervention was illegal. The organization noted that filming in a public space does not constitute a crime and is protected under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, signed by Cuba. For the OCDH, the arrest was arbitrary and the use of force disproportionate.