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Omar
Rodríguez Saludes,
director of the independent news agency Nueva Prensa
Cubana in Havana, was arrested on the night of 18 March
2003 during the infamous March 2003 crackdown on Cuba's
political dissidents and independent journalists.
On 5 April 2003, Rodríguez,
who was 37-years-old at the time of his arrest, was
tried by Havana's special court for crimes against state
security under Article 91 of the Penal Code for "acting
against the independence or territorial integrity of
the State". He was sentenced to 27 years in prison,
the longest sentence handed down to any of the 29 journalists
arrested in the crackdown.
Rodríguez was incarcerated
at Camagüey Provincial Prison, over 500 kilometres
from his home in Havana, but was later moved to Toledo
Prison, Havana, where he shares a cell with several
inmates. According to his wife, Ileana Marrero Joa,
he suffers from kidney problems and hypertension.
Rodríguez began
his journalistic career in 1995 as a freelance reporter
and photographer. He later joined Nueva Prensa Cubana,
where he wrote about political repression under the
Castro regime, among other topics, and soon became the
agency's director.
Omar Rodríguez Saludes
is one of 22 journalists currently imprisoned in Cuba.
The other jailed journalists are (please click on the
individual names for more information):
1. Pedro
Argüelles Morán, Director, Ciego
de Ávila Independent Journalists Cooperative
(CAPI), sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment (*)
2. Víctor
Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Journalist, Union of
Independent Journalists and Writers, 26 years (*)
3. Mijaíl
Barzaga Lugo, Reporter, Agencia Noticiosa Cubana
news agency, 15 years (+)
4. Guillermo
Espinosa Rodríguez, Reporter, Agencia
de Prensa Libre Oriental news agency, sentenced to 2
years of home confinement on 6 November 2006
5. Adolfo
Fernández Saínz, Correspondent,
Patria news agency, 15 years (+)
6. Alfredo
Felipe Fuentes, Freelancer, 26 years (+)
7. Miguel
Galván Gutiérrez, Journalist,
Havana Press news agency, 26 years (*)
8. Julio
César Gálvez Rodríguez,
Freelancer, 15 years (*)
9. José
Luis García Paneque, Director, Libertad
news agency, 24 years (*)
10. Ricardo
González Alfonso, Freelancer, 20 years
(*)
11. Léxter
Luis González Pentón, Freelancer,
20 years (*)
12. Iván
Hernández Carrillo, Reporter, Patria
news agency, 25 years (*)
13. Normando
Hernández González, Director,
Camagüey Independent Journalists Guild news agency,
25 years (+)
14. Juan
Carlos Herrera Acosta, Reporter, Agencia Prensa
Libre Oriental news agency, 20 years (+)
15. Héctor
Maseda Gutiérrez, Journalist, Grupo de
Trabajo Decoro news agency, 20 years (+)
16. Pablo
Pacheco Ávila, Reporter, Ciego de Ávila
Independent Journalists Cooperative, 20 years (+)
17. Alfredo
Pulido López, Director, El Mayor news
agency, 14 years (*)
18. Fabio
Prieto Llorente, Freelancer, 20 years (+)
19. Omar
Ruiz Hernández, Reporter, Grupo de Trabajo
Decoro news agency, 18 years (+)
20. Oscar
Sánchez Madan, Freelancer, sentenced
to 4 years' imprisonment on 13 April 2007
21. José
Ubaldo Izquierdo, Reporter, Grupo de Trabajo
Decoro news agency, 16 years (+)
(*) = imprisoned on 18
March 2003
(+) = imprisoned on 19 March 2003
"La
Primavera Negra" (The Black Spring):
Omar Rodríguez Saludes
was one of 29 journalists arrested in the massive crackdown
- dubbed "The Black Spring" - on political
dissidents and independent journalists in March 2003.
Over a three-day period, police conducted mass arrests
and house searches, confiscating research material,
computers, typewriters, cameras, fax machines, and other
equipment. In all, 78 people, including 29 journalists,
were arrested. About half of those arrested had organised
a petition drive for political and human rights reforms
in Cuba. Known as the "Varela Project", it
gathered more than 11,000 signatures and united the
country's small dissident movement into the first major
internal challenge to the Communist regime.
On 7 April, 14 courts across
the country announced that they had convicted the journalists
of "working with a foreign power to undermine the
government" and had handed down jail sentences
ranging from 14 to 27 years in jail. The one-day trials
were held behind closed doors. Defence lawyers had little
time to prepare cases and in some instances could not
meet with their clients until just before the trials
began.
Prosecutors had asked for
sentences ranging from 20 years to life for the dissidents
under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence
and Economy, which provides for the punishment of anyone
who "supports, facilitates or collaborates with
the objectives of the Helms-Burton Law, the embargo,
and the economic war against our people," and Article
91 of the Penal Code, which provides for prison sentences
or the death penalty for those who act against "the
independence or territorial integrity of the State."
The journalists remained
incarcerated in jails administered by the state intelligence
apparatus, DSE, until 24 April 2003, when most of them
were sent to prisons around the country, often hundreds
of kilometres from their homes. In June 2003, the People's
Supreme Tribunal dismissed the appeals for annulment
filed by the journalists in April and upheld their convictions.
Rodríguez and Cuba's
other imprisoned journalists are kept in solitary confinement
or locked up with common criminals, who are often encouraged
to harass them. They complain of appalling hygiene conditions,
rotten food and inadequate medical care. The often great
distances from their homes make visits by family members
difficult and expensive. Several imprisoned journalists
have gone on hunger strikes to demand better conditions.
It is feared that some journalists could die as a result
of the poor conditions in the prisons.
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