Cuban political prisoner Reinaldo Labrada Peña, jailed since the "black spring" of 2003, was released from prison Thursday, after completing a 6-year prison sentence. He is the first member of the Group of 75 arrested during the crackdown to finish his sentence.
"My years in prison have been of hostility, of suffering and of pain, torn apart from my family and my children," Labrada said. "But my struggle has not ended. Prison was just a stop on the road."
The Castro dictatorship in 2006 had given Labrada a chance to be released early, but the price - he had to denounce his fellow dissidents - was too high.
A Cuban human rights group said Labrada's release should not be seen as a sign of conciliation or goodwill by the dictatorship, since Labrada had completed his sentence.
Read my Political Prisoner of the Week profile of Labrada here.
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