Havana
Reuters
—
Cuban prosecutors formally charged six individuals with “crimes of terrorism” and ordered them held in pretrial detention on Tuesday in connection with an incident last week through which Cuban forces killed 4 Cuban nationals and wounded six others aboard a speedboat that entered Cuban waters.
Cuba’s Interior Ministry introduced the gunbattle at sea final Wednesday, accusing the Cuban exiles of opening hearth on a border guard vessel, saying they got here from the United States with the intent to sow chaos and attack navy models on the Communist-ruled island.
Cuban forces returned hearth and took the six survivors into custody, Cuba stated.
There was no additional replace as to the situation of the wounded detainees, nor their whereabouts at a time of heightened tensions between the US and Cuba. Washington has successfully halted all oil shipments to the Communist-ruled island whereas demanding political and financial adjustments.
Cuban officers have stated the purported infiltrators got here armed with practically 13,000 rounds of ammunition, 13 rifles and 11 pistols, displaying the captured armaments from the studio on a particular tv program on Friday.
They additionally confirmed photos of the vessels, every peppered with bullet holes from the firefight they stated passed off at a spread of 20 meters (66 toes).
Cuba has stated no less than two of these taken into custody had been beforehand positioned on a listing of accused terrorists.
Prosecutor Edward Robert Campbell informed the state tv program on Friday the accused confronted a bunch of potential charges together with crimes related with terrorist acts.
If convicted they may face jail phrases of as much as 10 to fifteen years for the lesser offenses and 20 to 30 years – and even the loss of life penalty – for the extra critical charges, Campbell stated.
US politicians have expressed skepticism over Cuba’s model of occasions, calling for impartial investigations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio it was not a US operation and that no US authorities personnel have been concerned.