Mijail Bárzaga Explained

Mijail Bárzaga Lugo
Nationality:	Cuban
Known For:	2003–2010 imprisonment
Occupation:	journalist

Mijail Bárzaga Lugo (his name being the Spanish rendering of the Russian name Михаил, usually spelled Mikhail in English) is a Cuban dissident who worked as a freelance journalist in Havana and was incarcerated in Cuba for seven years as a prisoner of conscience recognized by Amnesty International.^[1]

In 2003, during the Black Spring crackdown on dissidents, the regime accused Mijail Bárzaga of publishing subversive and counter-revolutionary news on Internet sites such as Cubanet, Cubaliberal and Payolibre.^[2] He was sentenced to 15 years in jail for his journalism.^[3] He was released from prison in July 2010 and immediately exiled to Spain together with his family.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cuba: One year too many: prisoners of conscience from the March 2003 crackdown . Amnesty International . 16 March 2004 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120926031905/http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR25/005/2004 . 26 September 2012 .
2. Web site: Reporters Without Borders Annual Report 2004 - Cuba . 2004 . Reporters Without Borders . 7 July 2012.
3. Web site: Expelled from Cuba jails, journalists languish in Spain . María Salazar-Ferro . 17 April 2012 . Committee to Protect Journalists . 7 July 2012.
4. http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/news/cuba-tenth-journalist-released-exiled-to-spain Cuba: Tenth journalist released, exiled to Spain