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CPJ concerned about the
health of jailed independent journalist
in Cuba
Committee
to Protect Journalists.
New York, February 16, 2007-The Committee
to Protect Journalists is concerned about
a report of deteriorating health of independent
journalist Alfredo Pulido López,
who has been imprisoned in Cuba for almost
four years.
Pulido López, 46, is suffering
from serious breathing and stomach ailments,
his wife Rebeca Rodríguez Souto told
CPJ.
The journalist is receiving medical care
in prison, but his wife said the living
conditions are unbearable. According to
Rodríguez Souto, Pulido López
is being held in a room with at least 100
hardened prisoners in Camagüey's Kilo
7 Prison, where he was transferred in August
2004. Rodríguez Souto said that her
husband has witnessed continuous acts of
violence among the inmates and fears for
his life.
CPJ's attempts to reach Kilo 7 Prison
in Camagüey were unsuccessful.
Pulido López, director of the Camagüey-based
independent news agency El Mayor, was imprisoned
during a massive March 2003 crackdown against
the Cuban independent press. He was tried
under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code
for "acting against the independence
or the territorial integrity of the state,"
and sentenced in April 2003 to 14 years
in prison.
Rodríguez Souto told CPJ she has
repeatedly requested Cuban authorities to
release her husband on medical parole but
has not yet received a response. She said
her husband is severely depressed with a
complete loss of appetite that has resulted
in the loss of at least 20 lbs. since his
incarceration.
"We hold the Cuban government responsible
for the welfare of Pulido López and
urge it to release him along with all the
other journalists who should never have
been imprisoned in the first place,"
said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.
Cuba continues to be one of the world's
leading jailers of journalists-second only
to China-with 24 independent journalists
currently imprisoned. Twenty two of these
journalists were jailed in the March 2003
crackdown.
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