A STALIN-STYLE SHOW TRIAL ON THE „PARADISE” ISLAND

On September 30th 2013 Gorki along with Renay were stopped while going to their friends’ party. The

police found on Gorki two pills of a medication for epilepsy which Gorki has been suffering from since he was a teenager. He spent two days in prison without his medication. When he was finally freed, he was presented with the charges of illegal possession of controlled drugs. It was that day when the

months long nightmare started.

Medications were prescribed by a Mexican doctor during Gorki’s visit at his sisters’ in Veracruz.

The procedure of the preparation of documents took two months. Gorki’s family in Mexico managed to get the statement of the doctor who prescribed the medication. But such a paper was not enough. The statement had to be confirmed by a notary. But to present it in Cuba it had to be fully legalized by the

Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And that is because Cuba is one of a very few countries of the world which has never signed the Hague convention on the international “apostille” standard which makes it easier and faster to legalize the documents which are to be used outside the issuing country. Thanks to the help of a few international organizations Gorki’s family got the money and necessary legal advice to obtain it.

Still even the legalization granted by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not enough for the Cuban courts. So next the documents had to be presented in the Cuban consulate in Mexico so that it could declare, according to Gorki’s words that “there exists such doctor and notary and the Foreign Affairs Ministry and finally such a country called Mexico”. Documents arrived to Havana in a courier

package which had been opened by the authorities.

Gorki has no fixed internet connection. He uses a network in one of the European embassies. His

day is Monday around 2:00 p.m. local time. But since Christmas up to mid January most of the embassies stayed closed. When we talked for the last time in the second half of December 2013, Gorki still had no clue neither about the precise content of the charges that were to be pressed against him or about the possible date of the trial.

December 10th is International Human Rights Day. On that occasion the Cuban organization Estado de Sats led by Antonio Rodiles, prepared a set of meetings and presentations of some excellent

Cuban intellectuals, dissidents and artists. The celebrations were planned for December 10th through the 11th. On December 10th the arrests started. Among others detained was the above mentioned Antonio Rodiles. In the afternoon I received a text message from Gorki “we’re fine just worried about Rodiles”. Gorki went to his house to join the others who protested against the arrests. He was stopped by two policemen in civil clothes and beat up brutally (he received a few punches on the head which ended up causing a migraine attack). He was kept in jail for another two days. I was informed about this incident in a one sentence long e-mail from Ciro Diaz.

In the end of January Gorki got back online. We talked about the plans for the upcoming year,

the eventual concerts in Europe, the new material he was creating with Porno para Ricardo and a completely new musical project he is about to announce in the middle of the year. We discussed new urban cameras installed in front of the dissidents’ houses (Gorki had “his” installed as one of the first).

On January 31st I received another one sentence long email from Ciro saying that Gorki had received the note with the date of the trial – February 11th. I decided not to worry too much. The idea of -incriminating a sick man just for his sickness and the fact that he is trying to have a normal life – alone was for me, a person who lives in a normal, democratic country, so absurd that I had difficulty with believing in its’ reality. According to this I already knew that the whole medical documentation was already completed. But the worst information was just about to hit. In a “Juicio sumario” (summary trial) as the type of trial Gorki will have to go through is nothing more than a copy of trials held in Stalin’s Russia in the thirties of the last century which were basically a show. The defense is not allowed access to the prosecution files, which makes it impossible to prepare the proper line

of defense. In those terms we can say that Gorki was already found guilty. If he is sentenced, and if it comes to the worst – for how long, is just a matter of the interest of the international community.

During last week I observed plenty of gestures of solidarity, help and support. Many people have

signed the petition to the Cuban authorities for clearing Gorki of the absurd charges (though we do not exactly know what their accusations are). Activists have been sending pictures and videos showing their support, they have been sharing each and every single piece of information. Gorki himself has recorded a video containing his statement about the trial and a call for support. He tries to stay calm and cool but anyone who knows him even just a bit can see that Gorki is scared. It is not just a bad joke anymore. If this forty-five year old man (many of us tend to forget that he is not a teenager anymore) ends up in jail without the possibility to continue his therapy, this case may come to the most tragic end. We do not know if when the worst come to worst, we will be able to get him out of there before the epilepsy will do its’ job…

So let’s move. We have three days left until the trial. Let’s show the Cuban authorities that we watch their actions closely and that illness and “forbidden songs” are not reason enough to sentence a man to possible death. Gorki has done nothing wrong. He just sings and speaks his mind out loud. And he carries all the positives -his jokes, good word for everyone, laughter, good energy. It is truly hard to believe that this guy who always tries to make everyone around him have sex, who tries to seduce each and every girl he likes and who keeps on joking with everyone – sometimes despite the language barriers - might be punished for the simple fact that he has the bravery of thinking by himself…

But it is real. And it is only up to our solidarity if he makes it out of this oppression.

Please sign the petition. Share pictures, videos and information. Write to Gorki – even just to let him know that he is not alone.

Aleksandra Peszkowska

English version revised by John Suarez - thank you!