Leading Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas was arrested by police after an argument with agents guarding his home, his mother and activists said. Farinas, who has gone on hunger strike about two dozen times against the regime, was arrested late Thursday in front of his home in the central city of Santa Clara, his mother Alicia Hernandez told AFP. \"He went to talk to the patrol... and then they had an argument and took him into custody,\" she said. Elizardo Sanchez, head of the banned but tolerated Cuban Committee for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said Farinas wanted to speak to the agents because \"the laptop of one of the members of his organization had apparently gone missing.\" Farinas, 50, was last arrested on July 24 along with about 50 others at the funeral of fellow activist Oswaldo Paya, who was killed in a car accident. Hernandez said she was \"worried\" for her son due the poor sanitary conditions of police stations amid outbreaks of cholera and dengue on the communist island. Farinas won the Sakharov prize -- the European parliament\'s top human rights award -- in 2010 after his 135-day hunger strike to press for the release of political prisoners. A former soldier and supporter of Fidel Castro\'s revolution, Farinas distanced himself from the regime in 1989 when he opposed the execution of general Arnaldo Ochoa, who was accused of drug trafficking. Jose Daniel Ferrer, another dissident, was also arrested Thursday at his home in the southwestern town of Palmarito, Sanchez said. He noted that dissidents are usually arrested for several hours or several days by the government of Raul Castro, who took over in 2006 from his ailing brother Fidel. In July, 406 dissidents were arrested, according to Sanchez\'s group. All opposition is illegal in Cuba and the communist government considers dissidents to be \"mercenaries\" in the pay of its top foe, the United States.
GMT 01:03 2018 Wednesday ,24 January
Trump 'imitates' Modi's accent in private conversation: ReportGMT 21:24 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
Puigdemont accuses EU of not defending rights in CataloniaGMT 21:18 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
Vietnam oil exec 'kidnapped' from Germany jailed for lifeGMT 21:08 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
Turkey in new assault on Kurdish militiaGMT 21:04 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
Turkey detains 24 over 'terror propaganda'GMT 20:52 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
Dawoodi Bohra leader arrives in DubaiGMT 22:09 2018 Monday ,22 January
Israel apologises to JordanGMT 16:11 2018 Sunday ,21 January
Pope condemns criminals in crime-stricken Peruvian city

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor