Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez reported through her Twitter account that seven people, among them journalists and dissidents, were arrested during the funeral of activist Oswaldo Payá on Tuesday, July 24.
The blogger reported that journalists Guillermo Fariñas and Julio Aleaga were arrested outside of the church that held the ceremony for the funeral of Payá, an activist who died in a car accident in Cuba on Sunday, July 22, according to the news agency Notimex. Dissidents Antonio Rodiles, and Ricardo Medina were also arrested at the funeral, reported the news agency Europa Press.
Fariñas is a distinguished freelance journalist whose hunger strike helped free 52 political prisoners in 2010.
Two of Payá's sons have questioned the accident's official version, and said that it could have been a premeditated attack, but the opposing Cuban Human Rights Commission said on Tuesday, July 24, that the case was a "tragic accident," according to the news agency EFE.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
