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The Cuban regime frees a hundred political prisoners, among them opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer

Many of those imprisoned were arrested for participating in demonstrations against the Castro government and spent at least four years in prison.

Cuban political prisoners are released from jailAFP

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After four years in Cuban jails, opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer was released Thursday by the Cuban regime. Along with him another hundred political prisoners were released, according to AFP and the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH).

Along with Ferrer, the OCDH reported that Luis Robles - detained on December 4, 2020 in Havana after demonstrating against state repression - and Yandier Garcia Labrada, a member of the Christian Liberation Movement, detained on October 6, 2020, were also released.

The Cuban Supreme People's Court has highlighted that the vast majority of the releases are given as conditional release, while six specific cases are by extrapenal license. This "extrapenal license" is an early release granted by the courts mainly for health reasons.

It is the first official figure released by authorities since Tuesday's announcement of an agreement negotiated with help from the Catholic Church for the release of 553 prisoners.

On Tuesday, the Cuban regime pledged to release these prisoners after U.S. President Joe Biden surprisingly announced the island's removal from the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism.

José Daniel Ferrer urges people not to be afraid

Shortly after his release from prison, José Daniel Ferrer called on Cubans not to be "afraid to confront" the communist government, because it is "increasingly scared" and "weaker," he said in statements to the Miami-based anti-Castro radio station Martí Noticias.

"Don't be afraid to fight for a free Cuba" nor "to work for a better future for all Cubans, so that we don't have to leave in search of freedom and better living conditions to other lands," the oppositionist added.

Declared a "prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International in 2021, Ferrer was arrested when he tried to join the demonstrations of July 11, 2021 (J-11), the largest recorded on the island since the triumph of the revolution in 1959.

A month later, a court revoked the sentence of limited freedom he was serving and he was returned to prison to complete the original sentence of four years and six months he received in 2020 on charges of assault and other crimes against another opponent, which he denies.

Ferrer was part of the group of 75 prisoners of the so-called Black Spring of 2003, the biggest repressive wave launched against the opposition under Fidel Castro's government.

He was then sentenced to 25 years in prison and released in 2011 through the intermediation of the Catholic Church. He was one of the members of that group who declined to go into exile in exchange for his release.

Imprisoned for demonstrating against the regime

The released prisoners are overwhelmingly protesters who were arrested for taking part in the July 11 and 12 protests, known as 11-J.

"I am not surprised by this trickle of prisoners" released, Michael Bustamante, an academic at the University of Florida, told AFP.

Cuba "may be using the prisoners as chips on the negotiating table with the Donald Trump administration," which takes office Monday, to "try to buy some time."

Four prisoners, all convicted of involvement in 9/11, were released Thursday from a prison located in San Miguel del Padron, on the outskirts of Havana, AFP reporters noted.

"Thanks to being given this opportunity again, a second chance at life. It's a new beginning," the young Marlon Brando Díaz declared emotionally to AFP. He had been serving an 18-year sentence for his involvement in those protests.

Accompanied by their families as well as Diaz, three other prisoners serving their sentences in the same prison were released, AFP reported.

The Cuban authorities did not specify the dates of the releases nor did they publish a list of the prisoners who would benefit from them. According to official figures, some 500 Cubans were sentenced to up to 25 years for participating in protests demanding more freedoms and economic improvements, but human rights organizations and the U.S. embassy on the island count up to 1,000. Some of those sentenced have already been released after serving their sentences.

Cuba denies the existence of political prisoners and accuses opponents of being "mercenaries" of the United States.
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