CUBA: Cuban Prosecutor Recommends Acquittal of Pastor

I couldn't help but think of the Lord Jesus as our attorney before the Father in heaven.  If we receive Christ as our Lord and our Savior, then we have access to the Father in heaven.  When we stand before the Father on judgment day and He inquires of us, there is no greater comfort than to know that Jesus is my advocate with the Father, according to 1John 2:1.  This story shows how this believer had an unlikely advocate with this lawyer who was "just standing in."  I think this is pretty cool.

On Monday, December 4, a prosecuting attorney in Havana recommended Rev. Carlos Lamelas be acquitted of all charges of trafficking in illegal immigrants. According to Compass Direct News, the attorney who was standing in for the prosecutor in charge of Lamela’s case, told a panel of five judges of the Provincial People’s Tribunal that he did not seek any punitive action. He further recommended all charges be dropped.

Lamelas was arrested in a police raid at his home on February 20. The evangelical pastor was in jail for more than four months, before being unexpectedly released from the Villa Marita Detention Center on June 26.

Despite the motion for acquittal, Lamelas’ future still hangs in the balance. “The trial is now at the stage of determining sentence. And, we must await the judge’s decision,” Lamelas told Compass Direct News. He added that the worst part was the possibility of waiting one to two months before the judge made a decision. Lamelas was accompanied to the hearing by his wife Uramis, his parents and fellow evangelical pastor Roberto Moreno from Guanabana.