PRESS RELEASE From the Friends of Cuban Libraries Date: August 31, 2000 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SWEDISH JOURNALISTS ARRESTED BEFORE LIBRARY VISIT On Tuesday, August 29, three Swedish journalists were arrested in Havana by agents of the State Security police; they are being held in the "Control of Foreigners" detention center in the Miramar neighborhood of Havana. The three journalists - Peter Goetell, Birger Thuresson and Helena Soederquist - had travelled to Cuba on tourist visas to present workshops on freedom of the press. The last workshop in the series was scheduled to be given at Havana's Jorge Manach Library, which is one of approximately fifty independent libraries in Cuba whose goal is to provide uncensored reading materials to the people of the island nation. The Jorge Manach Library was featured in an article in the August 3 edition of the Washington Post which was sindicated in other newspapers. The workshops on press freedom were sponsored by the Swedish International Liberal Center in Stockholm. The SILC is funded by the Liberal Party with financial assistance from the Swedish government. The arrest of the three journalists met with an angry reaction in Sweden. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anna Lindh, demanded the release of the imprisoned journalists. In an interview with Sweden's National Television, Ms. Lindh stated: "It is tragic that Cuba once again demonstrates the type of dictatorial regime that it is." In another statement, the Foreign Minister declared: "This is sadly tragic, as it concerns a dictatorship that doesn't accept contacts between journalists or citizens, but rather reacts in this way to impede free discussion." The president of Sweden's Liberal Party, Lars Leijonborg, also demanded the release of the journalists and called for a review of Swedish foreign aid programs for Cuba. The Cuban government has announced that the three journalists will be deported later today. This news has been gathered from today's Nuevo Herald and an article by Manuel Orrio published in yesterday's edition of the CubaNet database (www.cubanet.org), in the Independent Press section. BACKGROUND: The Friends of Cuban Libraries, founded in June 1999, is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit support group for the independent librarians. The Friends oppose censorship and all other violations of intellectual freedom, as defined by the International Declaration of Human Rights, regardless of whatever political party may be in office in Cuba. We are funded entirely by our members and do not seek or accept contributions from other sources. For more information, contact Robert Kent ([log in to unmask]) or telephone (USA) 718-340-8494. Mailing address: 4-74 48th Avenue, Apt. 3-C, Long Island City, NY 11109 USA. ###