Graffiti Artist El Sexto Declares a Hunger Strike after Eight Months in Prison

Graffiti Artist El Sexto Declares a Hunger Strike after Eight Months in
Prison / Diario de Cuba
Posted on August 26, 2015

DiariodeCuba.com, Havana, 25 August 2015 – Graffiti artist Danilo
Maldonado, El Sexto, declared a hunger strike Tuesday, according to his
mother, Maria Victoria Machado, in statements taken by Radio Marti. As
of August 25 he will have spent eight months in custody following his
arrest and incarceration in the Valle Grande prison for the rebellious
performance with the two pigs named Fidel and Raul.

In recent weeks, State Security had told the graffiti artist that he
would leave jail on August 24, news that the jail authorities themselves
denied Monday under pressure by relatives who appeared at the
penitentiary center to seek explanations.

This Tuesday the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), which has awarded a
prize to the graffiti artist for his artistic fight in favor of human
rights, demanded his liberation.

"El Sexto is a prisoner for satirizing a family dynasty that for 57
years has arrogated to itself absolute power in Cuba, without holding a
single democratic election and repressing any critical expression no
matter how inoffensive it might be," said the president of the HRF, Thor
Halvorssen.

"Like the inhabitants of the farm [Animal Farm], in Cuba, artists like
Danilo Maldonado, Tania Bruguera and Gorki Aguila, are systematically
punished for refusing to live under the capricious tenets of a
totalitarian regime lacking any sense of humor and repressing even the
least manifestation of liberty," Halvorssen said.

Translator's note: Danilo is being held in pre-trial detention, he has
not been tried.

Translated by MLK

Source: Graffiti Artist El Sexto Declares a Hunger Strike after Eight
Months in Prison / Diario de Cuba | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/graffiti-artist-el-sexto-declares-a-hunger-strike-after-eight-months-in-prison-diario-de-cuba/