Central Europe.
January 29, 2001.
Cuban Authorities Say Czech Pilip Made Confession
PRAGUE, Jan 29, 2001 -- (CTK - Czech News Agency) Ivan Pilip, a Czech Deputy
who was detained in Cuba two weeks ago and labeled a U.S. agent, probably
considered the information he gave investigators during one of the first
questionings completely innocent, but Cuban authorities consider it a
confession, the daily Lidove noviny writes today.
Cubans claim they have sufficient evidence against "spies" Pilip
and Jan Bubenik, a former student leader who was detained together with Pilip.
One such "piece of evidence" is supposed to be a video recording made
during one of the first questionings of Pilip. He allegedly describes on it
where, when and whom he had met in the United States before coming to Cuba, the
daily writes. Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) deputy chairman
Miroslav Ransdorf, who maintains frequent contacts with the Cuban side, also
confirmed to Lidove noviny that "Pilip made a certain confession."
He however declined to disclose his source to Lidove noviny. The Czech
Foreign Ministry said it only had an official report from Cuba which does not
give any details about the detention and the first questionings of both Czechs.
The ministry therefore said it would not officially comment on Pilip's alleged "confession."
"We do not know whether it is true as we have no source which we could
trust," Deputy Foreign Minister Hynek Kmonicek told the daily. The meetings
between Pilip and Bubenik and Czech Charge D'Affaires in Havana Josef Marsicek
are held under strict control and diplomats do not want to "deteriorate"
the detainee's situation in the eyes of Cuban authorities by discussing too many
details, the daily writes. According to Lidove noviny, Bubenik did not say
anything during questioning.
However, it makes no difference, the daily writes. "Cubans do not
distinguish any difference between the guilt or innocent of the one or the
other," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ales Pospisil told the daily. Pilip and
former student leader Jan Bubenik were detained on January 12 because of their
meeting with Cuban dissidents.
They were put in the Villa Marista jail for dissidents in Cuba on January
16. The Cuban authorities have labeled them as U.S. agents and want to put them
on trial. They could spend five to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
((c) 2001 CTK - Czech News Agency)
Defend the Embassy With Your Lives Says Castro
PRAGUE, Jan 29, 2001 -- (Radio Prague) On a related note, Cuban leader Fidel
Castro has called on staff at the Cuban embassy in Prague that if necessary,
they should be ready to lay down their lives in the defense of the embassy.
In a telephone call between Castro and the Cuban charges d'affaires in
Prague, David Paulovich, Castro is reported to have said, that he believed that
staff would rather die than allow attackers to gain entrance to the embassy.
(C) 2001 Radio Prague.
Council of Europe Demands Release of Two Czechs Held in Cuba
STRASBOURG, Jan 27, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) The Council of Europe's
parliamentary assembly issued a petition Friday calling for the "immediate
release" of a Czech member of parliament and a human rights activist who
have been detained in Cuba since January 12.
The deputies condemned the arrest of Czech deputy and former finance
minister Ivan Pilip and of Czech human rights activist Jan Bubenik, according to
the text of the petition signed by 162 deputies.
The men were arrested in Ciego de Avila on January 12 while on a private
visit to Cuba and sent to Villa Marista prison although they "did nothing
wrong", according to the statement.
The European deputies stated their "strong conviction" that
arresting Pilip and Bubenik posed a "serious threat to human rights".
The Cuban government has charged the two Czechs with subversion, accusing
them of holding "meetings of a conspiratorial nature with members of
subversive Cuban groups" and of being US agents.
The head of the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly, Lord
Russell-Johnston, had already on Wednesday called for the "immediate
release" of the two Czechs. ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse)
Visegrad Countries Demand Freedom of Czechs Held in Cuba
WARSAW, Jan 27, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) The foreign ministers of the
Visegrad Group countries -- the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia --
called Friday on Cuba to "immediately release" two Czechs being held
as alleged U.S. agents.
"The ministers of foreign affairs of the Visegrad Group of countries...
do not regard the action of the Cuban side as grounded and call on the Cuban
authorities to immediately release the two detained Czech nationals," said
the joint statement released by the foreign ministries of the four countries.
Ivan Pilip, a former Czech finance minister, was arrested January 12, along
with Jan Bubenik, a student leader during Prague's 1989 Velvet Revolution.
The two were accused by Havana of subversive activities involving Cuban
dissidents, and being US agents.
The Visegrad statement said the incident "constitutes the violation of
internationally recognized norms and principles."
The Czech Republic has refused a Cuban offer to resolve the crisis by Prague
issuing an apology for the allegedly subversive activities of Pilip and Bubenik.
((c) 2001 Agence France Presse) | 