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« Cuban rights group reports 207 arrests in less than 24 hours | Main | Francisco Osoria Claro, Cuban Political Prisoner of the Week, 12/23/12 (UPDATED x 3) »

December 22, 2012

Cuban activist sentenced to jail, 3 others fined (UPDATED x 2)

UPDATED, Sept. 3, 2013 -- Yelky Puig was released from prison Aug. 29, 2012.

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One Cuban activist was sentenced to prison and three others were fined after they were found guilty by a court in Pinar del Rio of "disrespect" and "resistance.

Yelky Puig Rodríguez, a lawyer with the Corriente Agramontista and a member of the Cuban Independent and Democratic Party, was sentenced to 1 year in prison. Puig started a hunger strike as soon as he was taken into custody.

"They want to take Yelky out of circulation," said Raúl Luis Risco, also a lawyer with the Corriente Agramontista, a group of jurists pursuing the independence of the judicial system and the rule of law in Cuba. "This was all arranged beforehand."

Proof of that is the fact that the courtroom was packed with members of a pro-Castro "rapid response brigade," making it difficult for fellow activists to witness the proceedings. Police and other Castroite thugs blocked other activists from leaving their homes.

The other activists tried and convicted -- but fined, not sentenced to jail -- were Becerra Diaz Oneicy, Yusmary Izquierdo and Jorge Luis Ortega Becerra Romero.

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UPDATED, Jan. 6, 2012 -- Cuban dissident lawyer Rene Gomez Manzano writes about Puig, Cuba's newest prisoner of conscience.

Posted by on December 22, 2012 at 09:24 PM |

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