Cuban independent journalist Dania Virgen García is arrested, tried and sentenced to jail

by Segundo Miranda,

President of the Center for Human Rights & Democracy Brigade 2506

Photos - 1st: Dania (center) in the mass alongside other women from the group that support the Ladies in White, 2nd: Dania holding the symbolic gladiola walks with group who support Ladies in White and 3rd: Dania (right) behind Laura Pollan and Berta Soler walk along the Malecon in Havana.

We were informed last night by independent journalist Julio Antonio Rojas Portal of the arbitrary action taken by the dictatorship against Cuban human rights activist and independent journalist, Dania Virgen García.

I asked Julio if he had news about Dania to which he replied: “Dania was tried and sentenced today (April 23) to 1 year and 8 months in prison and has already been transferred to Manto Negro Prison,” Julio goes on to say “this is a is another rotten deed by the regime; State Security Forces have done this to silence those that expose them”.

It is a known fact that Dania is involved with peaceful opposition movements and the group that supports and sympathizes with the Ladies in White, actions that the military dictatorship that rules Cuba today considers unacceptable. It is a direct attack against the independent movement, which increments day-to-day and the dictatorship knows the harm being done; “the independent journalists and blogs” are those who carry the lead in this political and social phenomenon, and have been developing for several years now, and are stronger every day and the international press now follows them more closely.

The dictatorship sees it is losing the battle and knows it is close to its end and this the reason why they are trying to silence the voices of peaceful protest from the people of Cuba, before it leads to a social explosion that they will not be able to control.

We call upon Reporters Without Borders and the International Press to condemn this rotten maneuver by the regime against independent journalist Dania Virgin García, who in the short span of 48 hours was arrested, tried, convicted and transported to one of the most rigorous and torturous prisons in the penal system of the Cuban dictatorship.

The crime committed against Dania, is not new nor will be the last time we plead for everyone to join our protest, raise their voices, and ask the International Press, the Governments of the Free World and Organizations that Protect Human Rights to do something on behalf of Dania who was only doing what is her right; a right guaranteed to her by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of which Cuba is a signatory, which is her right to differ from the political system in her country.