Hefty Fine for Pastor's Wife Who Miscarried after Street Attack

Cuba: Hefty Fine for Pastor's Wife Who Miscarried after Street Attack
By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

CUBA (ANS) -- A Cuban pastor's wife who lost her baby after a neighbour
attacked her on the street, is being fined the equivalent of over two
months salary, accused by the authorities of "disturbing the public
order" on that day.

Cuban flag
According to the UK-based human rights group, Christian Solidarity
Worldwide (CSW), Gilianys Meneses de los Rios, daughter-in-law to
Reverend Roberto Rodriguez and wife to Pastor Eric Gabriel Rodriguez,
faced Cuba's Placetas Tribunal on Monday, August 17, 2009. She is being
fined 600 pesos ($648.00 USD), which is twice the average monthly salary
in Cuba, for being attacked on the street by the wife of a neighbour in
December 2008.

A CSW spokesperson said, "The attack was the latest in a campaign of
harassment against the Rodriguez family, carried out with the tacit
support of the authorities. This is due to the families' involvement in
the Interdenominational Fellowship of Evangelical Pastors and Ministers
in Cuba (Spanish acronym; CIMPEC) decision to leave the Cuban Council of
Churches (CCC.)"

Alexa Papadouris, CSW's Advocacy Director said: "It is a terrible
injustice that Gilianys Meneses de los Rios is being fined for a crime
she did not commit and over an incident in which she was the victim. We
urgently call on the Cuban Government to investigate this and every
charge against the Rodriguez family without further delay, and we urge
the international community to raise this case with the Cuban government
forthwith."

Note: CSW is a human rights organization which specializes in religious
freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs
and promotes religious liberty for all. Its website can be found at
www.csw.org.uk.

Cuba: Hefty Fine for Pastor's Wife Who Miscarried after Street Attack
(24 August 2009)
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/2009/s09080153.htm