Cuba

Pedro Argüelles Morán, Cooperativa Avileña de Periodistas Independientes

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

Argüelles Morán was convicted in April 2003 of violating Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy, which punishes anyone who commits acts "aiming at subverting the internal order of the nation and destroying its political, economic, and social system". He was given a 20-year prison sentence.

Victor Rolando Arroyo Carmona, Unión de Periodistas y Escritores de Cuba Independientes

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

Arroyo Carmona, a journalist for the independent news agency Unión de Periodistas y Escritores de Cuba Independientes in his home province of Pinar del Río, was handed a 26-year prison sentence for acting against "the independence or the territorial integrity of the state" under Article 91 of the penal code in April 2003.

Miguel Galván Gutiérrez, Havana Press

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

Galván Gutiérrez, a journalist for the independent news agency, Havana Press, was tried in April 2003 under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code for acting against "the independence or the territorial integrity of the state." He was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Julio César Gálvez Rodríguez, freelance reporter

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

Gálvez Rodríguez worked for government media for 24 years. But in March 2003, as he was working as a freelance reporter in Havana, state security agents arrested him as part of the massive crackdown. He was summarily tried that April under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy and given a 14-year prison sentence. The People's Supreme Tribunal, Cuba's highest court, upheld the decision a month later.

José Luis García Paneque, Libertad

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

A physician by profession, García Paneque, 43, joined the independent news agency Libertad in 1998 after being fired from his job at a hospital in eastern Las Tunas because of his political views. In April 2003, a Cuban court sentenced him to 24 years in prison after he was con-victed of acting against "the independence or the territorial integrity of the state" under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code.

Ricardo González Alfonso, freelance reporter

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

González Alfonso, a poet and screenwriter, began reporting for Cuba's independent press in 1995. He founded the award-winning newsmagazine De Cuba and a Havana-based association of journalists, and then worked as a freelance reporter and Cuba correspondent for the Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders. He was taken into custody on March 18, 2003. In April, the Havana Provincial Tribunal found him guilty of violating Article 91 of the Cuban penal code for acts against the independence or "the territorial integrity of the state", and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. That June, the People's Supreme Tribunal Court upheld his conviction.

Léster Luis González Pentón, freelance

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

A court in the central province of Villa Clara sentenced independent freelance reporter González Pentón in April 2003 to 20 years in prison under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code for acting against "the independence or the territorial integrity of the state".

Iván Hernández Carrillo, Patria

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

Hernández Carrillo, a reporter for the independent news agency Patria in the western city of Colón, was sentenced in April 2003 to 25 years in prison under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy. In 1992, he had been given a two-year prison sentence for allegedly "distributing enemy propaganda and disrespecting Fidel Castro".

Alfredo Pulido López, El Mayor

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

Cuban authorities arrested Pulido López, director of the independent news agency El Mayor in Camagüey, in March 2003. A month later, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison under Article 91 of the penal code, accused of acting against "the independence or the territorial integrity of the state".

Omar Rodríguez Saludes, Nueva Prensa Cubana

Imprisoned: March 18, 2003

Rodríguez Saludes, director of the Havana-based independent news agency Nueva Prensa Cubana, was arrested in March 2003 and summarily tried in April under Article 91 of Cuba's penal code for acting against "the independence or the territorial integrity of the state". Cuban authorities handed him a 27-year prison sentence.

Mijaíl Barzaga Lugo, Agencia Noticiosa Cubana

Imprisoned: March 19, 2003

Barzaga Lugo, a reporter for the independent news agency Agencia Noticiosa Cubana, was arrested in March 2003 and accused the following month of violating Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy. Cuban authorities handed him a 15-year prison sentence.

Look out for more on the Woes of journalism in the days to come.