PARIS – Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday demanded the immediate
release of Cuban photojournalist Maria Nelida Lopez Baez, who is being
held at an unknown location on the communist-ruled island.
The journalist faces possible persecution for "pre-criminal social
danger," the Paris-based organization, known as RSF, said in a statement.
"The regime once again feels the need to censor and crack down on
dissidents and journalists," RSF said. "This helps to explain why it was
so contemptuous about the recent decision, obtained thanks to the
efforts of other Latin American countries, to let Cuba back into the
Organization of American States."
"Rejoining the OAS would have meant respecting basic freedoms, a clearly
unacceptable prospect for the continent's last dictatorship," the press
freedom watchdog said. "The international community must press for the
release of Cuban political prisoners."
The organization noted that the accusation of "pre-criminal social
danger" leveled against the journalist is commonly used by the Cuban
government against individuals who have committed no crime, jailing them
merely for their "potential" threat to society.
Three journalists have been convicted on this charge since 2006 and
given sentences ranging from three to four years: Oscar Sanchez Madan,
Ramon Velazquez Toranso and Raymundo Perdigon Brito. EFE
Latin American Herald Tribune - Press Group Demands Cuba Release
Photojournalist (18 June 2009)
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=337493&CategoryId=14510
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