Justice Minister María Esther Reus dismissed “without recourse” the administrative appeal the association Cubalex had filed in response to the July decision by the Department of Associations to deny entity its right to form an association. Laritza Diversent explained the situation to DIARIO DE CUBA on Tuesday.
According to Diversent the rejection is based "on the grounds that the objectives and purposes of the organization "are intended to harm the social interest" and that it engages in "illegal activity, with actions undertaken on unofficial sites and newspapers."
Diversent explained that the minister has alleged that all this constitutes "a violation of Article 62 of the Constitution of the Republic, which states that none of the freedoms it recognizes may be wielded against the objectives of the socialist State."
Another argument to justify the refusal is that there is already an association of law firms, and that an association like Cubalex is unnecessary.
In response to the new refusal Diversent explained that Cubalex will consider suing the Minister of Justice: "The appeals are not exhausted. We are dissatisfied with the decision and there exists the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the Minister for failing to recognize our right to constitute ourselves as an association."
According to the independent attorney this "interaction" between Cubalex and official bodies and institutions is what is vexing the regime and has prompted the latest actions against the organization.
"All our interactions with official bodies, pursuant to the law, is what has driven them up the wall, and this is why they are going after Cubalex," Diversent said.
If they file the suit and it is rejected again, Cubalex could turn to the Supreme Court. The national legal channels would run out there, at which point they could turn to international organizations.
The lawyer recalled how after the raid on the organization's headquarters last Saturday, independent attorney Eliócer Cutiño was arrested and threatened. She added that Julio Ferrer Tamayo remains in prison, and a habeas corpus order will be filed to condemn an imprisonment they consider “illegal.”