Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has learned that Cuban independent journalist Alberto Santiago Du Bouchet, who was arrested last month, has been sentenced to 3 years in prison.
Reporters Without Borders has learned that dissident journalist Alberto Santiago Du Bouchet, a reporter for the Habana Press news agency, was sentenced to three years in prison on 12 May. Arrested on 18 April on a charge of “disrespect for authority,” he had been transferred to a prison on 10 May. The press freedom organisation does not expect his appeal to be successful.“Hastily tried just two days after being jailed, Du Bouchet has little chance of having his sentence quashed on appeal as it was due above all to his activities as a dissident journalist,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The lawyer who filed the appeal on his behalf was not even able to attend the trial.”
The press freedom organisation added: “Du Bouchet’s imprisonment brings the number of journalists detained in Cuba to 24. He is the fourth journalist to be jailed since Raúl Castro took over as President of the Council of State in July 2006. Despite the transition, Cuba still holds its position as the world’s second biggest prison for journalists.”
(Editor's note: Uncommon Sense counts 27 imprisoned journalists in Cuba. Read about each of them by clicking on their names on the right sidebar, under "March 18 Project.")
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