Spaniard tried in Cuba dissident death; no verdict
ERNANDO GONZALEZ, Associated Press
Friday, October 5, 2012
Updated: Friday, October 5, 2012 7:30pm
BAYAMO, Cuba (AP) — A Spanish political activist was tried Friday on charges of negligently causing the car crash that killed a prominent Cuban dissident. Several government opponents including noted blogger Yoani Sanchez were detained around this eastern city where the proceedings were taking place.
Defendant Angel Carromero's trial wrapped up in the evening in Bayamo, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of the capital and near the site of the July 22 highway crash in which Oswaldo Paya and another dissident, Harold Cepero, died.
Authorities accused Carromero of speeding and charged him with the equivalent of vehicular manslaughter, and prosecutors asked the court for a seven-year sentence. In videotaped statements, the Spaniard has said he lost control upon driving onto an unpaved section of road under repair and the vehicle skidded into a tree.
Carromero's attorney argued Friday that it was impossible to determine the exact velocity of the vehicle, showed photographs of allegedly poor road signs warning of the upcoming roadwork that have since been replaced and asked for him to be acquitted. Carromero did not testify ...
http://www.chron.com/news/article/Spaniard-tried-in-Cuba-dissident-death-no-verdict-3922010.php