Three Members of Cuban Opposition Released After Three Months’ Detention

Three Members of Cuban Opposition Released After Three Months' Detention
/ 14ymedio
Posted on January 21, 2016

14ymedio, Havana, 21 January 2016 – Released on Wednesday, after three
months detention, were two members of the Cuban opposition: Hugo Damián
Prieto Blanco, leader of the Orlando Zapata Tamayo Front for Civic
Action, and Wilberto Parada Milan, a member of the Patriotic Union of
Cuba (UNPACU), according to reports to this newspaper from opposition
sources. Also released on Thursday morning was the opponent Carlos
Manuel Figueroa, who was arrested after jumping the fence of the US
embassy in Havana last October. According to dissident sources, the
activist shouted slogans at the time: "Down with Raul" and "Down with
the dictatorship."

Figueroa was a part of the group of 53 political prisoners released in
January 2015 after negotiations between Washington and Havana, according
to a report at the time from Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban
Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN).

Hugo Damián Prieto Blanco and Wilberto Parada Milan were arrested on 24
October 2015, two days after holding a protest against the Attorney
General of the Republic through which they demanded the release of Maria
Josefa Acón, Zaqueo Baez and Ishmael Reni, the three activists jailed
for approaching Pope Francis before Mass in the Plaza of the Revolution
on 20 September of last year

The opponents were charged with disorderly conduct and sent to prison
pending trial. The first has been held in Valle Grande and the second in
the Combinado del Este in Havana.

After his release, Hugo Damian Prieto and his wife visited the
headquarters of the Ladies in White in Havana's Lawton neighborhood,
according to former prisoner of the Black Spring, Angel Moya.

The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation
(CCDHRN) reported the arbitrary detention of the two opponents in their
last three reports and condemned it for going "against the well-known
expectations encouraged by the announcement of the restoration of
diplomatic relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States."

According to the independent organization, "political repression
increased steadily throughout 2015 from 178 cases in January to figures
in the vicinity of 1,000 arrests by year's end."

Source: Three Members of Cuban Opposition Released After Three Months'
Detention / 14ymedio | Translating Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/three-members-of-cuban-opposition-released-after-three-months-detention-14ymedio/