New York, November 7, 2014–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release today in Cuba of Juliet Michelena Díaz, who had been imprisoned since April after photographing a police operation in Havana.
“We are relieved that Juliet Michelena Díaz has been released after spending seven months in jail on baseless accusations,” said Carlos Lauría, CPJ’s Americas senior program coordinator. “Cuba must dismantle its obsolete legal framework, which punishes independent reporting with jail. Freedom of expression is the right of all Cubans.”
Michelena, a contributor to the Cuban Network of Community Journalists, was charged with atentado (attack) after she photographed police officers using dogs to break up an altercation between residents in Havana, according to press reports. On Thursday, a judge in Havana declared her innocent of all charges, according to press reports She was freed this afternoon, Martha Beatriz Roque Cabello, the director of the network, told CPJ.