Havana, Cuba, Jul 2, 2008 / 08:36 am
Laura Pollan Toledo, one of the most well-known leaders of the Women in White, said this week she has been the victim of harassment by Cuban state police.
Independent journalist Carlos Serpa Maciera, who writes for Miscelanea de Cuba, said Pollan Toledo, who is married to imprisoned journalist Hector Maseda, told her that every time she leaves her residence she is followed and watched by Cuban police agents.
“If I go to a store or to a mall, they follow me. They don’t hide from publicly watching me,” she said.
Police agents have installed a security camera and flood lights in front of Pollan Toledo’s home, which is also the main office for Women in White, a group of women whose spouses are political prisoners.
Pollan Toledo said the harassment became more intense after a peaceful protest carried out by a dozen members of Women in White on April 21 in Havana. State police agents broke up the protest and forced the women to leave the Plaza de la Revolucion.