Ibrahim Figueredo Fonseca

Extra Bio Info:

Ibrahim Figueredo Fonseca was imprisoned for his religious leadership role.  

On June 10, 2021, authorities detained Fonseca, a pastor from Güira de Melena, Artemisa province, while on his way to the electric company office in El Gabriel to try to reconcile an unreasonably high electric bill that his church could not afford.  His arrest came despite the Office of Religious Affairs previously instructing churches to contest electric bills on a case-by-case basis with local officials.

Five days after Fonseca's arrest, he was convicted of "disrespect" and sentenced to nine months in prison. Cuban Christian leaders believe that Fonseca's arrest is meant to intimidate them from contesting electricity costs, after the government imposed high tariffs on churches and other non-state, non-residential entities in January 2021.

Fonseca is married and has two children. His wife has not seen him since the trial, and communication between the two has been extremely limited.  He has reportedly been moved to Taco Taco Maximum Security Prison, 53 miles (86 km) away from his town.

Fonseca's sentence should have ended in March 2022.