HAVANA -- (AP) -- Cuba has released an imprisoned journalist after he served most of his 22-month sentence for participating in an anti-government rally, a local activist and a foreign media watchdog group said Thursday.
Roberto de Jesús Guerra Pérez, who reported for U.S. Web sites, was released from Valle Grande prison outside Havana Tuesday, according to veteran dissident Martha Beatriz Roque, who said she spoke with Guerra shortly after he was freed. Guerra has been a contributor to Miami's Payolibre and Nueva Prensa Cubana, as well as the U.S. government-funded Radio Marti.
Guerra was among six dissidents who were picked up during a street protest on July 13, 2005, the anniversary of the deadly sinking of a migrant-filled tugboat 11 years before. Government opponents say the boat was rammed by the Cuban coast guard and that 41 people died, but authorities called it an accidental collision with 32 dead.
Guerra was held until February, when he was sentenced to 1 year and 10 months behind bars for disorderly public conduct.
The Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that, with time served, Guerra had been due to be released May 13. The organization said that Guerra was in poor health after staging hunger strikes.
''Our thoughts remain with the 25 other journalists still held in dire conditions in Cuban jails,'' the group added.
