Cuba ready to free more political prisoners: parliament chief
By Jose Luis Fraga (AFP) – 3 hours ago
GENEVA — Cuba is ready to release more political prisoners after announcing
this month it would free 52, and they could remain on the island if they
wished, the Cuban parliament chief told AFP Tuesday.
In a Spain-brokered deal struck between the Catholic Church and Havana, Cuba
agreed to free 52 of 75 detainees who had been sentenced in 2003 to prison
terms of up to 28 years.
Parliament chief Ricardo Alarcon indicated in an interview that more could be
freed.
"It was very clear from the discussions that the government's wish is to free
all the people" on condition they had not been accused of murder, he said on
the sidelines of a conference in Geneva.
Eleven freed prisoners have already emigrated to Spain with their families and
another nine were expected to arrive in Madrid this week as part of Cuba's
biggest release of political prisoners in over a decade.
Those who had agreed to go into exile in Spain were the first to be freed.
Alarcon signaled that other freed detainees may be even able to stay in Cuba if
they wish.
"The agreement says that they could travel abroad ... but in Cuba there are
people who have been freed from prison several years ago and who stayed in
their homes. As in this case," he said.
According to Cuban dissidents, another 115 political prisoners remain in Cuba
even after the release of the 52.
Reacting to the figure, Alarcon pointed out that some of them "were captured in
Cuba where they had placed bombs."
"If these so-called dissidents had done in Switzerland what they did in Cuba,
they would have been imprisoned for much longer," he claimed.
"Working for another government to topple ... the US government, could bring
the death penalty," said Alarcon.
The landmark deal on political prisoners came after dissident hunger striker
Guillermo Farinas nearly starved to death on a 135-day hunger strike.
Relatives of some of the 52 detainees have said they could refuse emigration or
ask to be sent to the United States instead of Spain.
Church officials have stressed that emigrating from Cuba was an offer, not a
condition for the release of the prisoners with other countries offering to
take the prisoners including Chile, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.
If Havana lets all 52 dissidents go it would be the largest release of
political prisoners in Cuba since 1998 when 300 dissidents were spared jail
time following a visit by then-pope John Paul II.
=========================================
WALTER LIPPMANN
Los Angeles, California
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
"Cuba - Un Paraíso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================
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