(AFP)
HAVANA — A new batch of six Cuban political prisoners is ready to be
released and sent to Spain having undergone medical tests and filled out
the necessary paperwork, friends and family said Sunday.
Relatives of the dissidents planning to travel to Spain with them said
the prisoners had received medical examinations and their travel clothes
on Saturday.
"We are ready at any moment to travel, with God's help," Catalina Cano,
the aunt of the of the dissidents who plans to travel with him, told AFP.
In a deal struck between the Catholic Church and Havana that was
brokered by Spain, Cuba agreed to free 52 of 75 dissidents sentenced in
2003 to prison terms of up to 28 years.
The agreement, which saw a first main group of 20 prisoners released in
July, followed talks between Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the Archbishop of
Havana, and President Raul Castro in May.
Laura Pollan, who heads the Ladies in White rights group women -- wives
and mothers of the 75 political prisoners -- said it was always joyful
to see a dissident released.
"But it hurts to see them leave for exile, to leave the prison directly
to the airport and not be able to say goodbye to relatives and friends
who are not traveling," she told AFP.
Cuban dissidents say that even after the release of the 52, another 115
political prisoners will still be languishing behind bars in Cuba.
Those set to be released are Marcelo Cano, 45, a medical doctor; poet
Regis Iglesias, 40; journalists Juan Carlos Herrera, 44; Fabio Prieto,
47; and Juan Fernandez, 61; and Efren Fernandez, 57, who briefly went on
a hunger strike.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jpFuz-NqbhH58vRbakBU7NMB9gtA
No comments:
Post a Comment