Swedish youth politician injured in Cuba car crash

Swedish youth politician injured in Cuba car crash
Published: 23 Jul 12 08:10 CET

Swedish politician Aron Modig, the current chair of the Christian
Democrats youth wing, has been injured in a car crash on Cuba which
claimed the lives of two renowned critics of the Castro regime.

"He is conscious and is feeling okay under the circumstances," confirmed
KDU's press secretary Kalle Bäck to the Dagens Nyheter daily.

Bäck was however unwilling to detail how seriously injured the KDU
chairperson is, saying only that he was in hospital.

The dead have been identified as Oswaldo Paya, one of Cuba's most
well-known dissidents, and opposition politician Harold Capero.

A further Spanish citizen was injured in the crash which occurred in the
Granma province some 750 kilometres east of Havanna.

The car drove off the road between the provincial capital Bayamo and Las
Tunas of at 1.50pm local time on Sunday. The car then collided with a tree.

According to a CNN report, Oswaldo Paya's daughter has forwarded claims
that a further car was involved in the crash and that the vehicle
deliberately drove into the car carrying Aron Modig.

This information was however denied by the Cuban government in a
statement on Sunday, citing eye witnesses.

Modig was reported to have visited Cuba to offer his support for the
pro-democracy movement.

Oswaldo Paya received the Sakharov Prize in 2002 and received a
nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 by the former Czech
president Václav Havel.


http://www.thelocal.se/42174/20120723/