Published: 10 Dec 07 17:59 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/9366/
Three young Swedish women have been placed under house arrest in Cuba,
according to Liberal Youth of Sweden (Liberala Ungdomsföbundet - LUF).
The three members of the youth wing of Sweden's Liberal Party travelled
to Cuba last week in a show of solidarity with the Ladies in White, an
opposition movement consisting of the spouses and other relatives of
jailed dissidents.
On Sunday the women's hotel rooms were raided and they had their
passports and visas confiscated, according to LUF.
LUF chairwoman Frida Johansson Metso said that her party had been in
touch with the parents of the women in question.
"They are in their hotel rooms and seem to be doing fine," she told The
Local.
She expected the women to be escorted to their plane before flying back
to Sweden on Tuesday.
Johansson Metso, who has headed LUF since 2006, said that it was not
unusual for members of her party to be confined to their hotel rooms by
Cuban authorities.
"During my time as chairwoman, it has happened two or three times," she
said.
The three Swedes travelled to Cuba with eight Catalan liberals to pledge
their support to the Ladies in White on the UN's Human Rights Day,
December 10th.
"Cuba is a dictatorship and the Liberal Youth of Sweden have long
cooperated with many of the democratic forces in Cuba," said Johansson
Metso in a statement.
The Ladies in White practice peaceful resistance by walking through the
streets in white clothing after attending mass each Sunday.
Formed in 2003, the movement received the European Parliament's Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2005.
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