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Yoani Sánchez, Reinaldo Escobar, and Agustín Díaz were arrested on Thursday, October 4. A brief post covering the details of their arrest can be found here.
At 9pm EST on Friday, October 5, acclaimed Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez and bloggers Agustín Díaz and Reinaldo Escobar (Sánchez's husband), were released from police custody in Havana, Cuba, after having been detained in the eastern city of Bayamo the previous day. Shortly thereafter, Sánchez tweeted,
@YoaniSanchez: #Cuba Acabamos de ser liberados!! 30 horas de arresto y muchas anecdotas que contar :-(
@YoaniSanchez: #Cuba We've just been released!! 30 hours of arrest and many anecdotes to tell :-(
Blogger Yoani Sánchez. Photo by Andre Deak and republished under Licence CC-BY-2.0.
Sánchez and her colleagues had traveled to Bayamo hoping to witness and report on the trial of Angel Carromero, a Spanish national accused of vehicular manslaughter after a car crash that killed renowned democracy advocate Oswaldo Payá and activist Harold Cepero. Carromero traveled to Cuba in July to meet with human rights activists on the island. Sánchez tweeted that her intention had been to cover the trial.
@YoaniSanchez: #Cuba Mi intencion era totalmente periodistica. Asistir al juicio a @angelcarromero y reportar desde #Bayamo a traves de mi cuenta #Twitter
@YoaniSanchez: #Cuba My intentions were purely journalistic. To attend the trial of @angelcarromero and report from #Bayamo using my #Twitter account.
After being released, Sánchez reported that she was attempting to follow news of the Carromero trial online. She tweeted that the arrest was “nothing” compared to what the Payá family has experienced.
@YoaniSanchez: #Cuba Lo mas triste y significativo es el drama que vive la familia de @oswaldopaya Nuestros arrestos no son NADA comparados con esa perdida
@YoaniSanchez: #Cuba The saddest and most significant thing is the drama that the family of @oswaldopaya has lived. Our arrests are nothing compared with their loss.
Freedom from Fear...Now.