Over 40 pro-democracy activists detained in Cuba

Over 40 pro-democracy activists detained in Cuba
A journalist also claimed he was beaten by a Cuban State Security agent.
By Ed Adamczyk | June 12, 2014 at 2:31 PM |

HAVANA, June 12 (UPI) --Over 40 pro-democracy activists, including four
leaders of the movement, were detained by police in Cuba in a crackdown
on dissidents.
Human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez, in Havana, described the action
Wednesday as "short-term, arbitrary detentions for political motives."

Although most detainees were released later in the day, the scope of the
police action suggested the Cuban government is turning to tougher and
more violent means of repression.

A journalist, Roberto de Jesus Guerra, claimed a Cuban State Security
plainclothes agent attacked him as he walked to the Czech embassy in
Havana to use its Internet connection. He later said in an interview, "I
am going to the doctor now and later to the police to file a complaint,
although they never do anything because they are the ones beating us."

Prominent dissidents Jorge Luis García Pérez, known as Antúnez, and his
wife, Yris Pérez Aguilera, were taken from their home in Placetas. Also
among those detained were Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White
protest movement, and her husband, Angel Moya, a dissident who
previously served eight years in prison.

Sanchez's group, the Cuban Committee for Human Rights and National
Reconciliation, said there have been 3,821 such detentions in the first
four months of 2014, a higher figure than usual. The detentions are
meant to intimidate dissidents and discourage gatherings that ferment
protest.

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Source: Over 40 detained in crackdown of dissidents in Cuba - UPI.com -
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