New York, March 4, 2009–An independent Cuban journalist arrested on Sunday should have the charges against him made public or he should be released immediately, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. He was picked up on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the crackdown against Cuba’s independent press.
Exiled Cuban journalist Alejandro Gonzalez Raga spoke to reporters in Madrid on Monday as part of CPJ’s launch of our book, Attacks on the Press. He talked about the brutality of life in a Cuban prison, the torture he and other journalists who were jailed for their writing endured. Here are his remarks, in Spanish:
The utility company had just cut off the electricity supply to his house. Darkness and shadows were back in Alejandro Gonzalez Raga’s life. His rented apartment in Madrid–shared with his wife, siblings, and in-laws–was as devoid of light as the Cuban cells in which he was jailed for five years after Castro´s “Ofensiva 2” operation…
The utility company had just cut off the electricity supply to his house. Darkness and shadows were back in Alejandro Gonzalez Raga’s life. His rented apartment in Madrid–shared with his wife, siblings, and in-laws–was as devoid of light as the Cuban cells in which he was jailed for five years after Castro´s “Ofensiva 2” operation…
Five years after the government’s massive crackdown on the independent press, 21 journalists remained behind bars in inhumane conditions as Cuba retained its notorious distinction as the world’s second-leading jailer of journalists. Only China jailed more. Two Cuban reporters were released from prison and went into exile during the year, but harassment of independent journalists…
Fabio Prieto Llorente, one of 21 independent journalists jailed in Cuba, has been outspoken in describing the inhumane and unsanitary conditions in which he and others have been held. On Wednesday, he began a hunger strike to call attention to the situation at El Guayabo Prison in the western Isla de la Juventud province, the…
Dear President Castro: The Committee to Protect Journalists is writing to you on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution to renew its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all journalists jailed in your country. With 21 reporters and editors unjustly incarcerated, Cuba is one of the leading jailers of journalists in the world, second only to China.
Also: See capsule reports on journalists in jail as of December 1, 2008 New York, December 4, 2008–Reflecting the rising influence of online reporting and commentary, more Internet journalists are jailed worldwide today than journalists working in any other medium. In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, released today, the Committee to Protect Journalists found…