In an unprecedented ruling, a United States federal judge has ordered
the Cuban communist party and government to pay $27.5m (£17m) to the
mother of jailed Cuban journalist Omar Rodriguez Saludes.
Rodriguez, director of the independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana
in Havana, was arrested in a March 2003 crackdown on Cuba's political
dissidents. He is now serving a 27-year sentence.
District judge Alan Gold, sitting in Miami, wrote: "During his
imprisonment, he has been beaten, starved, given poor food, placed in
solitary confinement and deprived of medical treatment."
Therefore, his family deserved to be compensated for "the intentional
infliction of emotional distress" it has endured because of the son's
mistreatment by Cuba.
In greeting the decision, an International Press Institute spokesman
said "This is a landmark ruling that shows clearly, as a matter of law,
that the relatives of a living political prisoner are entitled to be
compensated for intentional infliction of emotional distress."
IPI has been campaigning for Rodriguez's release and that of 21 other
journalists imprisoned in Cuba. Its director, David Dadge, said that a
legal precedent had now been set "which, we hope, will help to
strengthen the protection of human rights as a universal value. We
welcome the ruling and emphasise its value in terms of affirming
universal principles."
Here's a report on YouTube about the case...
But will Cuba ever pay up? Pedro Martinez-Fraga, the lawyer who acted
for Rodriguez's mother, told IPI that he was confident he would be able
to collect the compensation from US-based individuals and companies that
owe money to Cuba
Sources: AP/IPI
Roy Greenslade: Cuba ordered to pay £17m to jailed journalist's mother |
Media | guardian.co.uk (4 September 2009)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2009/sep/04/press-freedom-cuba
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