The Gleaner continues to look at the plight of journalists the world over after the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that up to December 1, 136 journalists were sitting in jail cells worldwide and 68 had been killed in 2009. China, Iran and Cuba recorded the highest number of journalists in prison. We will continue to highlight those who have had their rights denied.
Adolfo Fernández Saínz, Patria
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
In March 2003, Cuban state security agents raided the Havana home of Fernandez Saínt, correspondent for the independent news agency Patria, and then arrested the journalist. He was tried under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy in April. In June of that year, Cuba's highest court, the People's Supreme Tribunal, upheld his conviction and his 15-year prison sentence.
Alfredo Felipe Fuentes, freelance
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
Fuentes, an economist by training, began working for the Cuban independent press in 1991. On March 19, 2003, he was arrested after a raid on his home in the city of Artemisa. The next month, the freelance reporter was convicted of violating Article 91 of the Cuban penal code, which imposes harsh penalties for acting against "the independence or the territorial integrity of the state." A judge in western Havana province handed him a 26-year prison sentence.
Normando Hernández González, Colegio de Periodistas Independientes de Camagüey
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
Hernández González was arrested in March 2003 as part of the massive crackdown on Cuba's dissidents and independent press. The director of the news agency Colegio de Periodistas Independientes de Camagüey was sentenced the following month to 25 years in prison under Article 91 of the penal code.
Juan Carlos Herrera Acosta, Agencia de Prensa Libre Oriental
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
In March 2003, Herrera Acosta was arrested during the massive crackdown on Cuba's dissidents and independent press. A Cuban court sentenced him a month later to 20 years in prison under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy.
José Ubaldo Izquierdo Hernández, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
Izquierdo Hernández, a reporter in western Havana for the independent news agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro, was sentenced in April 2003 to 16 years in prison for acting "against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state" under Article 91 of the penal code. Following an appeal the next month, the People's Supreme Tribunal Court upheld his conviction. In 2009, he was being held at the Guanajay Prison in his home province.
Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
Several state security agents raided Maseda Gutiérrez's home on the second day of the March 2003 crackdown on Cuba's dissidents and independent press. Following a closed-door summary trial the following month, the reporter was charged under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code for acting "against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state" and Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In June of that year, Cuba's highest court, the People's Supreme Tribunal, dismissed his appeal.
Pablo Pacheco çvila, Cooperativa Avile-a de Periodistas Independientes
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
On March 19, 2003, state security agents raided the home of Pacheco çvila, a reporter for the local independent news agency Cooperativa Avile-a de Periodistas Independientes, in central Ciego de çvila. He was convicted in April under Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's Independence and Economy for committing acts "aiming at subverting the internal order of the nation and destroying its political, economic, and social system," and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Fabio Prieto Llorente, freelance
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
Prieto Llorente, a freelance reporter in western Isla de la Juventud, was arrested in March 2003 during the massive crackdown on the Cuban independent press. In April of that year, a local court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for violating Law 88 for the Protection of Cuba's National Independence and Economy.
Omar Ruiz Hernández, Grupo de Trabajo Decoro
Imprisoned: March 19, 2003
Ruiz Hernández, a reporter for the Havana-based independent news agency Grupo de Trabajo Decoro in the province of Villa Clara, was arrested on March 19, 2003, during the massive crackdown on the island's dissidents and independent press. He was sentenced in April to 18 years in prison for acting "against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state" under Article 91 of the Cuban penal code.
Oscar Sánchez Madan, freelance
Imprisoned: April 13, 2007
In early 2007, Sánchez Madan was detained twice and warned to stop working for the independent press after he covered a local corruption scandal and social problems in western Matanzas province, where he lived. He was arrested in April 2007 and, after a one-day trial, Cuban authorities convicted him of "social dangerousness". The reporter was handed the maximum prison sentence of four years.
Albert Santiago Du Bouchet Hernández, Havana Press
Imprisoned: April 18, 2009
Police arrested Du Bouchet Hernández, director of the Havana-based independent news agency Habana Press while he was visiting relatives outside Havana. Officers alleged that the journalist was shouting anti-government slogans in the street. In May, Du Bouchet Hernández was convicted in a summary trial on charges of "disrespect" and distribution of enemy propaganda, and sentenced to three years in prison.
Adnan Hassanpour, Aso
Imprisoned: January 25, 2007
Security agents seized Hassanpour, a journalist and former editor for the now-defunct Kurdish-Persian weekly. Aso, in his hometown of Marivan, in Kurdistan province, according to news reports.
A Revolutionary Court convicted Hassanpour in July 2007 of endangering national security and engaging in propaganda against the state. The journalist was sentenced to death. A court of appeals overturned the death sentence in September 2008 and ordered a new trial on charges of 'working for outlawed parties' and espionage. In November, a trial court convicted Hassanpour on the new charges and re-imposed the death sentence.
Mohammad Seddigh Kaboudvand, Payam-e Mardom
Imprisoned: July 1, 2007
Plainclothes security officials arrested journalist and human rights activist Kaboudvand at his Tehran office, according to Amnesty International and CPJ sources. He was being held at Evin Prison in Tehran.
Authorities accused Kaboudvand, head of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan and managing editor of the weekly Payam-e Mardom, of acting against national security and engaging in propaganda against the state, according to his organisation's website. A Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced him to 11 years in prison.
Mojtaba Lotfi, freelance
Imprisoned: October 8, 2008
A clergyman and a blogger, Lotfi was arrested by security forces on a warrant issued by the religious Clergy Court in Qom. Authorities accused him of publishing the views of Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who had criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's positions.
Authorities did not specify particular articles or publications in which the views were supposedly cited. Lotfi was convicted of several charges, including spreading antistate information, and sentenced to four years in prison, according to news reports.
Hossein Derakhshan, freelance
Imprisoned: November 2008
The exact date of Derakhshan's arrest was unknown, but news of his detention first appeared on November 17, 2008, on Jahan News, a news website close to the Iranian intelligence apparatus. At the time, Jahan News reported that he had confessed to 'spying for Israel' during the preliminary interrogation.
Derakhshan started blogging after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
In November, the BBC Persian service reported that Derakhshan's family had sought information about his whereabouts and the charges he faced and expressed concern about having very limited contact with him.
Mahdi Hossein-Zadeh, Hambastegy
Imprisoned: June 2009
Hossein-Zadeh, a journalist for the economic section of the reformist newspaper Hambastegy, was arrested in mid-June, according to Mouj Azadi, a reformist news website.
Hossein-Zadeh was being held at Tehran's Evin Prison. He faced espionage allegations in late year, according to Mowjcamp, a news website supportive of the defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi.
Look out for more on the Woes of Journalism in the days to come.