International Press Institute (IPI) Director David Dadge today praised
the expected release of Cuban journalists José Luis Garcia Paneque,
Pablo Pancheco Ávila and Lester Luis González Pentón following
apparently successful negotiations between President Raúl Castro and
Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino, Roman Catholic archbishop of Havana,
brokered by visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
However,
IPI expressed disappointment at the fact that its Justice Denied
journalist, Omar Rodríguez Saludes, appears due to remain
behind bars. Rodríguez, director of the independent news agency Nueva
Prensa Cubana in Havana, was arrested on the night of 18 March 2003 and
sentenced to 27 years in prison - the longest sentence handed down to
any of the 29 journalists arrested in the 2003 crackdown on dissidents.
“While
we welcome this long overdue move by Cuba to release political
prisoners detained in the infamous Black Spring crackdown, it is far
from enough,” said IPI Director David Dadge. “We call on Cuba to
immediately release all the dissidents, including journalists, who
remain in prison.”
The journalists due for release, along with
two other political prisoners - Villarreal Antonio Acosta and Luis Milan
Fernandez, are expected to be freed in the next few days and flown to
Spain, according to reports from the Havana archdiocese. Last week,
after a meeting with Cardinal Ortega, Castro released one prisoner and
transferred about a dozen others to facilities closer to their family
homes.
The journalists, along with owners of private libraries
and members of illegal opposition political parties, were arrested in
March 2003 (known as the Cuban “black spring”) as part of a major
crackdown by the government on dissidents. Nearly 80 people were
arrested in the sweep; most remain in prison. Between 3 and 7 April of
that year, the 29 journalists arrested were handed down jail sentences
ranging from 14 to 27 years under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's
National Independence and Economy and Article 91 of the Cuban Penal
Code, which provides for prison sentences or the death penalty for those
who act against “the independence or territorial integrity of the
State.”
Medical doctor and independent journalist José Luis
García Paneque was arrested March 18, 2003 and is serving a 24-year
sentence. A member of the independent – and illegal -- Manuel Marquez
Sterling Journalists’ Association, Garcia Paneque was also head of the
independent library in the eastern province of Las Tunas.
Pablo
Pancheco Ávila was also arrested on 18 March and later sentenced to 20
years in prison. Panchero Ávila worked for the unofficial news agency
Cooperativa de periodistas Independientes Avilena when he was arrested.
Freelance
journalist Lester Luis González Pentón was sentenced to 20 years in
prison and was among the youngest of the writers arrested in 2003.
According
to the Catholic church, 47 other dissidents will be released over the
next three to four months.
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