Five complaints about the spread of diseases are in the possession of the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic of this eastern Cuban province, confirming the attention that said State institution provides to comply with current legislation for a situation of high epidemic risk, such as the one it happens now.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- This was reported to the press by Aimara Pérez Sobrino, chief prosecutor in Las Tunas. Violators, both of the norms established in the Penal Code and in the Public Health Law, were initially imposed fines of three thousand pesos. But she clarified: "Those who refuse to pay will be referred to the courts for higher sanctions and may also be punished with imprisonment for three months to eight years, depending on the circumstances."
In addition, she commented, the precautionary measure of house confinement is being imposed. That step, she explained, is more severe than the isolation indicated to the entire population by the health authorities, since it implies the control of these people not only by the health staff but also by the National Revolutionary Police (PNR).
The Penal Code, Pérez Sobrino recalled, in its section referring to crimes against health, establishes that whoever “infringes the measures or provisions dictated by the competent health authorities for the prevention and control of communicable diseases, as well as programs or campaigns for the control or eradication of serious or dangerous diseases or epidemics, incurs a punishment of deprivation of freedom for a period of from three months to one year or a fine of 100 to 300 quotas or both.”
Likewise, both the Public Health Law and its regulations empower the health authorities to make all the pertinent decisions to ensure the life of the people in the face of an epidemic emergency situation such as the one that now the country is facing due to the global spread of the COVID-19.
In this regard, the chief prosecutor in this province recalled that the crime of disobedience is committed when people in a decomposed or aggressive way resist complying with any of the measures or disrespect not only the police authorities but also the health officials. This, she said, has happened in the isolation centers and in the queues next to the Commerce units, and will be duly sanctioned.
Last week, the Attorney General's Office instructed the six citizens who evaded isolation in the province of Sancti Spíritus. "The process is open and, of course, now begins a deployment of police and criminal investigations to demonstrate the illicit of the referent," said Anamaris Conde Reboso, chief prosecutor of the municipality of the same name.
Likewise, last Sunday, it was reported that the Provincial Prosecutor's Office of Havana accused eight citizens of illegally stealing protective items for medical personnel.
