The prominent Cuban political prisoner Hector Maseda has been released, BBC online reports Saturday.
He is the latest dissident to be freed by the communist government under a deal brokered by the Roman Catholic church. Mr Maseda was among 52 dissidents Cuba’s communist government agreed to free last July, but his release was delayed until now because he refused to go into exile in Spain.
He has now been allowed to return to his home in Havana. Mr Maseda, 68, is journalist and former nuclear engineer who founded the banned Liberal Democratic Party.
He is the husband of Laura Pollan, the leader of the Ladies in White group that has been campaigning for the release of all political prisoners.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes against the state.
The release of political prisoners has been a key demand of the US and EU if economic ties are to be improved.
Opposition groups say there are still around 100 political prisoners in Cuban jails.
