Committee to Protect Journalists 330 Seventh Avenue,
New York, NY 10001 USA Phone: (212) 465-1004 Fax: (212) 465-9568
Web: www.cpj.org E-Mail:
info@cpj.org
June 26, 2001
His Excellency Fidel Castro Ruz
President of Cuba C/o Cuban Mission to the United Nations New
York, NY
VIA FAX: 212-779-1697
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to condemn the unjust
prosecution of José Orlando González Bridón, a Cuban
journalist and labor activist who was recently sentenced to two years in jail
for distributing "false information."
Since December 15, 2000, González Bridón has been incarcerated
in the Combinado del Este prison, east of Havana. In early April 2001, the
government prosecutor charged him under Article 103 of the Cuban Penal Code and
asked the court for a seven-year jail sentence.
Article 103 says that any individual can be jailed for one to 15 years for "inciting
against the social order, international solidarity, or the socialist State,
though oral or written propaganda, or in any other form," or for "spreading
false news or malicious predictions tending to cause alarm or discontent among
the population, or public disorder."
Since October 1999, González Bridón has been writing articles
for the Miami-based Cuba Free Press Web site. An electronics engineer by trade,
he also serves as the secretary general of the Confederation of Cuban Democratic
Workers (CTDC), an illegal trade union.
González Bridón was originally charged with spreading false
information regarding the death of a fellow labor activist in a domestic abuse
case. An article by the journalist posted to the Cuba Free Press site on August
5, 2000, reported that CTDC national coordinator Joanna González Herrera
had been attacked by her ex-husband, and that Cuban police had failed to prevent
her death.
During González Bridón's trial, which was held behind closed
doors on May 24, his lawyer argued that Joanna González Herrera had
reported her ex-husband's threats to the police and was subsequently murdered by
him. González Bridón reported these facts accurately, and
therefore could not be accused of spreading false news.
González Bridón's attorney also argued that because ordinary
Cubans lack access to the Internet, the journalist could not have caused alarm
or discontent among the population through his work, which was published online.
He then requested González Bridón's immediate and unconditional
release.
In response, the state prosecutor changed the charges against González
Bridón to "defamation of the institutions, heroes, and martyrs of
the homeland" under Article 204 of the Penal Code, and requested a one-year
prison sentence. The court announced that it would pass sentence within five
days.
In early June, despite the new charge, the court found González Bridón
guilty of distributing "false information for the purpose of disturbing the
international peace, or to endanger the prestige or credibility of the Cuban
State or its good relations with another State," a criminal offense under
Article 115 of the Penal Code, and increased the sentence to two years
imprisonment.
Under Cuban sentencing regulations, a one-year prison term would have led to
González Bridón's release on June 15, since he would have been
eligible for parole after serving half his sentence. In cases involving
political dissidents, it is not uncommon for Cuban courts to pass longer
sentences than those sought by prosecutors.
On June 8, a prison warden gave González Bridón a written copy
of the sentence. On June 13, González Bridón's lawyer filed an
appeal for annulment (recurso de casación) on procedural grounds.
González Bridón's unjust prosecution and imprisonment
constitute a violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, which states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and
expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference
and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers."
We call on Your Excellency to do everything within your power to ensure that
the appeal for annulment is granted and González Bridón is
immediately and unconditionally released. CPJ also takes this opportunity to
call for the immediate release of the independent journalist Bernardo Arévalo
Padrón, who has been imprisoned since 1997 for showing "contempt"
for Your Excellency and for Cuban State Council member Carlos Lage. The
journalist is currently in the labor camp El Diamante, in Cienfuegos, despite
being eligible for parole, and his health has suffered as a result of his
prolonged imprisonment.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper Executive Director
His Excellency Fidel Castro Ruz President of Cuba
C/o Cuban Mission to the United Nations New York, NY |