Tania Bruguera Has to Stay in Cuba for Another 60 Days

According to a press release issued by the organization #YoTambienExijo (I also demand), the artist Tania Bruguera will remain in Cuba for another 60 days at least.

It states: “Tania Bruguera—currently under conditional freedom—must wait for another period up to 60 days, so that the Prosecutor may weigh in on the charges brought by the Cuban government: inciting public disorder, resisting police and inciting to commit a crime; or that he may present new charges.”

Cuban-born Bruguera, who lives and works between Havana and Chicago, was arrested three times in the last days of December 2014, after attempting to restage the performance Tatlin’s Whisper #6 (2009) in Havana’s Revolution Square (see Tania Bruguera’s Arrest Slows the US–Cuba Thaw, How Tania Bruguera’s Whisper Became the Performance Heard Round the World, and Tania Bruguera Returns Award to Cuban Government).

The artist was released shortly after, and has remained in Havana since on conditional release, while prosecutors decide whether to file formal charges.

“It is very difficult to find a defense lawyer that would want to take my case since it is a state case against me,” Bruguera notes in the statement. “Lawyers have told me it is a lost cause; others have told me that they are afraid of the professional consequences if they defend me.”

But even if Bruguera secures legal representation, her attorney would still face an difficult situation. According to the press release, a prosecutor in Cuba may take up to 180 days to prepare a case or make a decision, while the defense attorney would only have 5 days to appeal the prosecutor’s decision. Moreover, the defense lawyer would only have access to the case file after the prosecutor’s decision.


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