The Cuban government showed its true colors again, using its "high court" to reaffirm repression and tyranny. This is the government about which the American Library Association, supposed advocate of a fundamental "Freedom to Read," is silent. OK with tyranny; OK with obscenity -- that's ALA today.
Cuba's high court has upheld the 20-year sentence of independent journalist Raul Rivero, who was among 75 Cubans sentenced to prison in a crackdown on the opposition this year, Rivero's wife said Monday.Posted by Alan at June 23, 2003 08:55 PMThe prison terms ranged from six to 28 years and have been condemned by governments and human rights organization around the globe. The Cuban government has defended the crackdown as a necessary defence against U.S. attempts to change the island's socialist system. Blanca Reyes said her husband's defence lawyer told her Monday that her husband's appeal had been rejected by the Supreme Tribunal, the island's court of last resort.
"I always thought that this would be the unfair decision," Reyes said. The tribunal also upheld the 20-year sentence of fellow independent journalist Ricardo Gonzalez, who was tried with Rivero.
Fifty of the sentences have now been upheld, said Carlos Menendez of the non-governmental Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation.
via Canada.com