Secret Document Classification Blocks Defense for Arrested Cuban: "The Lawyer Has Been Removed"

The Cuban government has obstructed the legal defense of political prisoner William Sosa, residing in the province of Las Tunas, by unexpectedly designating key documents in his case as "secret" and "sensitive material." This legal maneuver has effectively left the accused without representation at a critical juncture in the proceedings.

William's son, Miguel Sosa, revealed on social media that the lawyer was removed from the case on the grounds that she lacked the necessary clearance to review an administrative warning that, in theory, his father should have personally received months ago.

This warning, previously considered a routine document, was abruptly reclassified as "classified" and "secret," which, in practice, prevents the lawyer from accessing its contents and utilizing it in the defense strategy.

"The lawyer responsible for his defense has been removed. The legal justification is baffling," Miguel wrote.

"They have decided to label a simple administrative warning, which my father should have received months ago, as a 'classified' and 'secret' document."

For the family, this represents a clear legal contradiction: How can a document that was supposedly already delivered and read by the concerned party become a secret?

The immediate consequence of this decision, according to the detainee's son, is to leave William Sosa in a state of "complete legal vulnerability," without the attorney who had been representing him and without full access to information about his own case.

"By suddenly giving it this classification, they effectively leave my father without legal defense at the most critical moment," Miguel stated, adding that William is not only deprived of his freedom "for his ideas," but now faces a process where his fundamental right to defense is obstructed.

Miguel Sosa lamented that this maneuver "closes the doors to justice for us" and described the current situation as an escalation of his father's defenselessness.

He recalled that William has always advocated for "analysis and transparency," yet today he falls victim to a technicality that further isolates him from the outside world and legal protection mechanisms.

"It's crucial for people to know that, in addition to the detention, he is now being left alone against the system," he wrote, urging for help in spreading awareness of the case.

This latest development follows William Sosa's transfer to a prison after his arrest on November 12, as reported by his son.

"My dad was transferred to a penitentiary today. Thank you for all the support," Miguel confirmed on Facebook, using his father's account to announce the change in circumstances.

Sosa was detained by State Security and accused of "disobedience," a charge under the Cuban Penal Code that, according to organizations and activists, is frequently used to punish citizens who express critical views about the country's reality.

His family sees this as an arbitrary arrest, lacking legal basis, aimed at silencing his social media posts.

The detainee's son recalls that the authorities had previously warned his father about his Facebook posts before proceeding with the arrest.

"His crime was thinking and writing," Miguel denounced, emphasizing that William only shared economic and social analyses of the country's situation, "with respect and reason."

For the family, this case illustrates how the constitutional guarantees of freedom of thought and expression in Cuba are effectively reduced to "paper."

In earlier posts, the young man had shared an official summons that would prove his father was summoned by the authorities before being detained, and he had warned about the human impact of the persecution against William: "There is a home that needs him, that waits for him, and that suffers terrible anguish because of this injustice," he wrote.

Today, that anguish is compounded by the belief that, beyond keeping him incarcerated for his ideas, the system seeks to consolidate his legal isolation by preventing his lawyer from accessing the essential documents of the case.