MIAMI, United States. – Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer García was released this Thursday after almost four years behind bars, a period during which, according to complaints from family members and human rights organizations, he suffered physical and psychological torture.
The news was confirmed to CubaNet by his wife, Dr. Nelva Ortega Tamayo, who said she felt “tremendous happiness” after her release. The activist of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) assured that Ferrer was informed this Thursday that he would be sent home under the measure of conditional freedom.
According to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH), as of 11:30 am on January 16, 31 political prisoners have been released, representing around 3% of all those detained for reasons of this nature.
Among those released are Luis Robles—arrested in December 2020 on San Rafael Boulevard in Havana for demonstrating against state repression—and Yandier García Labrada, a member of the Christian Liberation Movement, who was arrested on October 6 of the same year. .
The release of Ferrer, one of the best-known opposition figures in Cuba, increases the expectation that more political prisoners could be released from prison in the coming hours or days. However, human rights organizations and activists inside and outside the country point out that the number of those released is still minimal compared to the total number of people deprived of their liberty for political reasons.
(News under construction)
