The mass trials against July 11 protesters continue this week in Cuba despite the outcry of family members, local activists and international organizations as the communist government has signaled it will try to to snuff other attempts at a popular rebellion.

At least 45 protesters will be tried this week in Havana and nearby Mayabeque province, according to information verified by the activist group Justicia 11J. They have been charged with several crimes, including causing “public disorder,” resisting the police, assault and disrespecting the flag. Some, including nine people under 20, are accused of inciting sedition, a crime that is punished with decades-long sentences.

Sentences are still pending for 66 protesters. Government judges already sentenced five protesters, including one with a mental disability, to 15-30 years in prison. The harsh sentences are meant to send the message that the government will not tolerate the kind of public demonstrations that erupted around the island on July 11, activists say.

As the trials go ahead, relatives and activists trying to rally attention over the issue have also become a target of Cuban security forces.

Last Friday, state security briefly detained Roxana García and other family members of Andy García Lorenzo, a young man who was tried in Santa Clara last week, for speaking about his case with foreign media outlets, including the Miami Herald. Activist Saily González was also dragged into a car by several state security officials and detained for several hours as she recounted in a post on Facebook. They faced combined fines of 66,000 Cuban pesos ($2,750 at the official exchange rate), but they quickly crowdfunded the money, an example of the growing solidarity with the families of the imprisoned protesters, González told the Herald.

The police also arrested and released art curator Carolina Barrero, actor Daniel Triana and activist Arian Cruz Álvarez, who protested in front of the Supreme Court in Havana on Monday demanding justice for the jailed protesters.

On Sunday, Barrero and legal-aid organization Cubalex published a damning letter allegedly written by Mailene Noguera Santiesteban, who is a member of a dissident group and has been detained since July for joining the protests. The letter described beatings and tortures in prison. The Herald could not independently verify the letter’s authenticity.

Some of the protesters’ families have been criticizing the legal process and seeking help on social media. Luis Wilber Aguilar — the father of 21-year old Walnier Luis Aguilar Rivera, who was sentenced to 23 years despite his mental disability — asked government leaders to “stop the abuse” in a video published on Facebook.

“This video is for the top government officials,” he said. “The country is in turmoil; everything is a lie. Everyone in Cuba has a family member in prison. They are touching the most sensitive part of the people, the children. I cannot sleep thinking about anything else; I feel too much pain. What do I do as a parent if I remain silent, letting my son take 23 years? A 21-year-old boy who has two little girls?

“Up there, there must be a commander of the revolution, a colonel who says, ‘Enough of the abuse,’” he continued. “I am making this video for you,” he said referring to the government leaders, “so that you can see what is happening with the people so that you can solve the problem and help.”

Top government officials, however, have voiced their support to the legal proceedings linked to the July 11 protests.