Cuba is to release 52 political dissidents from prison in coming days, the Catholic Church said Wednesday after a meeting in Havana between Archbishop Jaime Ortega and President Raul Castro, dpa reported.
The first five prisoners are to be released Wednesday.
All belong to a group of 75 opposition supporters arrested in 2003 in what became know as "black spring." The Cuban government claimed they were "mercenaries" working in the interest of foreign nations, such as the United States, and sentenced them to up to 28 years in prison.