Cuba frees second dissident in less than a week

HAVANA (AFP) - Cuban dissident Lazaro Gonzalez Adan was set free Tuesday after spending three years behind bars on charges of civil disobedience and resisting arrest, a rights group said yesterday.

The 37-year-old independent labor activist "was set free Tuesday after completely serving his three-year sentence," said Elizardo Sanchez, president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCDHRN).

The news came days after another prominent dissident, Francisco Chaviano Gonzalez, was let go by Cuban authorities, Sanchez told AFP.

Chaviano was freed Friday after spending 13 years, three months and three days in jail on accusations of divulging state secrets.

Still, "neither the release of Chaviano or Gonzalez Adan constitutes a trend, as these are prisoners who served their time," Sanchez said.

More releases are set for the coming weeks but again within the framework of time served, he added.

CCDHRN says around 250 political prisoners, including around two dozen journalists, are still jailed in Cuba.