Ruling sparks rare protest in Havana

             From Herald Wire Services

             HAVANA -- Dissident Reynaldo Alfaro Garcia was convicted and sentenced to
             three years in prison Friday for ``disseminating false news'' as a small group of
             protesters staged a rare demonstration outside the Havana courthouse.

             Alfaro, 37, is the leader of the Association for Struggle Against Injustice, known
             by the Spanish acronym ALFIN. Pope John Paul II interceded on his behalf in
             January and the humanitarian organization Amnesty International declared him a
             ``prisoner of conscience'' in its bulletin of Jan. 18.

             His trial had been scheduled for Feb. 20 but was postponed without explanation.
             Alfaro had originally been accused of spreading enemy propaganda, a crime
             punishable by 12 years in prison.

             Outside the courthouse about 20 people shouted slogans against President Fidel
             Castro after the sentence was handed down. The shouts included ``Freedom,
             freedom!'' witnesses said.

             Almost immediately, 20 or 30 government backers answered back, ``long live
             Fidel,'' and ``long live the revolution.''

             Witnesses said the demonstrations lasted about 15 minutes and the groups
             dispersed without incident.

             Alfaro was convicted of making up stories about the beating of a woman in a
             Guantanamo prison, and the ``disappearance'' of a soldier.

             The woman supposedly beaten in jail, Mercedes Mijares, and the soldier's mother,
             Candida Ester Gutierrez, were the prosecution's main witnesses and denied the
             stories before the court.