Cuban dissident says he believes 2 men on US list of 53 political prisoners have been freed

Associated Press

January 07, 2015 - 3:03 PM

HAVANA - The head of Cuba's Human Rights and Reconciliation Commission says two political prisoners have been suddenly freed and he believes their liberation is part of a U.S.-Cuban deal to release 53 dissidents.

Elizardo Sanchez tells The Associated Press that Diango Vargas Martin and Bianco Vargas Martin were released Wednesday without any of the judicial procedures that normally precede the liberation of those held in Cuba on politically related cases.

According to Amnesty International, the brothers were arrested in December as they tried to return to their home, where they live with their mother, a member of the dissident group Ladies in White. The two have been held on charges of using violence or intimidation against a state official. Amnesty described them as prisoners of conscience.

News from © The Associated Press, 2015

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