Cuba sentences Spaniard to 4 yrs for deadly crash

Cuba sentences Spaniard to 4 yrs for deadly crash
Published October 15, 2012
EFE

A Cuban court sentenced Spanish citizen Angel Carromero to four years
behind bars on a charge of negligent homicide for a car crash that
claimed the lives of prominent dissident Oswaldo Paya and an associate,
the official Web site Cubadebate said Monday.

The sentence was less than the seven years sought by prosecutors during
Carromero's Oct. 5 trial in the eastern city of Bayamo.

"Considering the gravity of the incident, in which the regrettable
deaths of two people were caused by the reckless driving of Carromero
Barrios, the court has imposed a sentence of four years' imprisonment,"
the note released by Cubadebate said.

Both the defense and the prosecution have the option to appeal.

Carromero, the 27-year-old leader of a youth group in Spain's governing
Popular Party, had an accident while driving a rented car last July 22
near Bayamo.

Riding in the car was Paya, 60, and fellow dissident Harold Cepero, who
died when it crashed into a tree.

Another of the passengers was Swedish political activist Jens Aron
Modig, who like Carromero suffered slight injuries and who was
authorized to leave the island several days later.

Paya was the promoter of the Varela Project, which he presented to
Cuba's legislature in 2002 along with some 11,000 signatures to propose
a referendum on a democratic and peaceful transition on the
Communist-ruled island.

The petition was rejected by the regime, but Paya emerged as the leading
advocate of peaceful democratic change in Cuba.

Paya's family has always questioned the official version of the traffic
accident and did not file a criminal complaint against Carromero. EFE

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