Former Cuban Economy Minister Alejandro Gil was initially sentenced to life in prison for espionage and other economic crimes, Cuba’s Supreme People’s Court reported Monday. Gil, 61, close to President Miguel Díaz-Canel, will be able to appeal this sanction within ten days.
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“Alejandro Miguel Gil Fernández, through acts of corruption and fraud, abused the powers conferred by the responsibilities he assumed to obtain personal benefits, receiving money from foreign companies and bribing other public officials to legalize the acquisition of assets,” the court statement said.
As happened when Gil was indicted in early November, the Supreme Court did not specify in its declaration for which country or entity the espionage acts were committed, nor did it give details of the economic crimes.
During the trial, Gil was found guilty of “corruption, theft and damage to documents or other objects in official custody, violation of official seals and non-compliance with the rules for the protection of confidential documents, the latter being of a continuous nature”, added the Supreme Court.
The former minister was also the subject of a second trial, for which he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, the Supreme Court added. In that other trial, Gil was found guilty of corruption, influence peddling and tax evasion, he added.
Gil now has 10 days to appeal these convictions. In the event of a life sentence, Cuban law provides for an automatic appeal procedure, which will necessarily involve a second trial.
The two trials took place in a court located west of Havana and in the greatest secrecy.
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