Good news from the gulag.
In a surprise move, independent journalist Oscar Mario González was released from prison Monday, 16 months after he was arrested on suspicion of causing a "public scandal," but never formally charged, according to CubaNet.
"I feel a little confused by such a drastic change. I am very happy and moved to see my wife, but my mind is dulled by the joy and emotion," González told journalist Roberto Santana Rodríguez.
González's release came less than a week after Human Rights First began a letter-writing campaigning urging temporary dictator Raul Castro to release the 62-year-old journalist, who has suffered a variety of health ailments while in jail.
González was arrested during a police crackdown on government opponents that began July 22, 2005, after a demonstration outside of the French embassy in Havana. González, a journalist with the independent news agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, was picked up while buying bread at a bodega near his home, according to the CubaNet story.
All throughout his detention, González was never formally charged with a crime.
In the CubaNet story, González offered a dire assessement of his time in prison.
"Imagine yourself what prison is like, especially the first six months in jail, which were terrible," González told Santana. "I suffered greatly. More than anything, it is doubly painful when you are not guilty and are imprisoned for exercising the right of free expression."
By my count, there are now 28 journalists in Cuban prisons.
Read more about them by clicking on the links under the March 18 Project.
UPDATED, 11:09 a.m EST
Reporters Without Borders has more on González's release.
“The reasons for González’s release are not known, any more than the real reasons for his arrest and detention without trial for 16 months,” the press freedom organisation said. “His case is unfortunately typical of the absurd repressive methods used in Cuba. By freeing him, the authorities implicitly recognised that have no serious grounds for holding dissident journalists. We hope this is the prelude to the release of the 23 other detained journalists.”González, 62, was freed from “1580" prison in San Miguel del Padrón (Havana province), where he had been since the start of this year after being held for months in a total of six different state security lockups. The prison authorities had told his family they had no knowledge of any charges against him. He had been placed in the prison’s FD section, FD standing for “falta de documentación” - no documentation.
González, who helped found the Grupo de Trabajo Decoro agency in 1997, was arrested along with 33 other dissidents on 22 July 2005, on the eve of a demonstration that was to have been held outside the French embassy in Havana in protest against the “normalisation” of relations between the European Union and Cuba.
They were all released except a lawyer, a human rights activist and González. These three initially appeared to be facing trial for threatening “Cuba’s territorial independence and economy” under Law 88, for which they could have received 20-year jail terms. But they were never formally charged. The state security police variously told González’s wife, Mirtha Wong, that the indictment “does not exist” or “cannot be found.”
In July, the judicial authorities told his lawyer, Amelia Rodríguez, that he would be tried on a charge of “disturbing the peace,” which could have resulted in a one-year prison sentence. As a result of poor prison conditions, González began suffering from cervical osteoarthritis and high blood pressure while held. Neither of these ailments was properly treated.
Three other journalists from Gonzalez's agency, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, have been imprisoned since March 2003. They are:
José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández
UPDATED, 9:30 p.m. EST
Human Rights First says more than 1,000 people, through its Web site, sent e-mails and letters to temporary dictator Raul Castro demanding González's release:
Since his detention, González had suffered from serious health problems that were exacerbated by poor prison conditions and medical neglect. Prison authorities had repeatedly denied knowledge of any charges against him and had refused to provide his lawyer with information about the indictment or possible trial. ...In his writings, González had denounced the lack of free expression in Cuba and the government’s systematic violations of the basic rights of Cubans. Before his release, he was one of 24 journalists currently imprisoned in Cuba and one of more than 300 individuals detained because they challenged official policy or spoke out about systemic human rights violations.
Human Rights First called on the Cuban authorities to free all those currently imprisoned because they expressed opinions different from the official government view or because they sought to defend and promote the basic rights of Cubans.
UPDATED, Nov. 22, 2006, 8:20 a.m.
The Committee to Protect Journalists also has a comment.
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