Carlos Serpa MaceiraHe wasn't treated as harshly as Ahmed Rodriguez, and he did not suffer like the more than two dozen of his colleagues imprisoned in the gulag, but Cuban independent journalist Carlos Serpa now has first-hand knowledge of to what extent the dictatorship will go to silence its critics.
Serpa, director of the Cuba-Miami Information Bridge news agency, on Tuesday was arrested on a street and detained for 10 hours in a jail cell with common criminals. Before he was released, he was fined 6,000 pesos, supposedly for "civil disobedience" and for being in the capital city of Havana without government permission. If he doesn't pay within 72 hours of his release, he could be subject to more prosecution, according to a story by Serpa's colleague at CMIB, Mario Hechavarria Drigg, posted at Miscelaneas de Cuba.
Serpa was unswayed by the dictatorship's gestapo tactics.
"I accuse the government of Cuba of trying to silence my voice. I will continue, until the ultimate consequences, my work as a journalist," Serpa said.
Miscelaneas de Cuba has posted a couple of Serpa's recent stories, here and here.
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