Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez has been arrested
in Cuba’s eastern city of Bayamo, a pro-government website said.
Ms Sanchez is known for
highlighting issues affecting young Cubans on the communist-run island. She was detained on her way to
the trial of Spaniard Angel Carromero.
Mr Carromero faces
manslaughter charges over the July death of high-profile oppositionist Oswaldo
Paya.
Ms Sanchez’s Twitter account
has not been updated since Thursday and the BBC’s correspondent in Havana,
Sarah Rainsford, said her mobile phone was unreachable and appeared to have
been cut-off.
Her final Tweets were sent
while she was on her car journey to Mr Carromero’s trial, which started on
Friday at about 14:00 GMT.
The pro-government blog,
Yohandry.com, said she was arrested with her husband because they planned a
“provocation” and “media show” that could endanger the credibility of the
trial.
Sensitive trial
Mr Carromero has been in
police custody since 22 July when a car he was driving hit a tree and crashed,
killing two passengers – Mr Paya and another Cuban activist, Harold Cepero.
Yohandry.com also accused Ms
Sanchez of trying to manipulate the truth of the car crash.
Prosecutors are seeking a
seven year jail sentence for 27-year-old Mr Carromero, who is being tried for
involuntary manslaughter.
Mr Paya’s family dispute the
circumstances around the 60-year-old’s death and have alleged the vehicle was
deliberately forced off the road.
In February Ms Sanchez, who
writes the prize-winning blog Generacion Y, was denied a request for an exit
visa to travel abroad, for the 19th time.
Last week she filed a
complaint against Cuba with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission for
being denied permission to leave the country, her lawyer said, according to the
AFP news agency.
Oswaldo Paya was best known as
the founder of the Varela project, a campaign begun in 1998 to gather
signatures in support of a referendum on laws guaranteeing civil rights.
The Cuban government described
him as an agent of the US who was working to undermine the country’s
revolution.
(BBC News)
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