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Thursday, January 26, 2006

Supermodel nabbed by Cuban police

Supermodel nabbed by Cuban police
From correspondents in Havana
26-01-2006

CZECH supermodel Helena Houdova took a break from the catwalk to visit
communist Cuba and was arrested for taking photographs in a slum, she said
today.
The former Miss Czech Republic 1999 runs a foundation in New York that
supports disadvantaged children in nine countries, and she wanted to see
what she could do to help in Cuba.
But on Monday, Cuban security police detained Houdova and her travel
companion, Czech psychologist Mariana Kroftova, while they were taking
photographs in the poor Havana neighbourhood of Arroyo Naranjo.
The two women were held overnight in police custody and not allowed to call
the Czech Embassy.
They were released 11 hours later after signing a letter vowing not to
engage in "counter-revolutionary" activities, the model said.
Police confiscated photographic film, but Houdova said she managed to hide
the memory card from her digital camera in her bra.
"They screamed at us. We were afraid," Houdova said. "We grew up under
communism and know what it is like."
"Something needs to change here," Kroftova said.
The two women were told not to leave Havana until their departure from Cuba
on Sunday.

http://www.news.com.au/story/print/0,10119,17944619,00.html

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