Cubans protest dissident's sentence

                        HAVANA (Reuters) - Protesters staged a small but highly unusual
                  anti-government demonstration outside a Havana courtroom Friday
                  after a prominent Cuban dissident was given a three-year jail sentence
                  for "spreading false information."

                  Supporters and relatives raised their fists and chanted "Freedom!," and some
                  sporadic cries of "Down with Fidel!" were heard, after police whisked
                  Reinaldo Alfaro Garcia, 37, away from the courtroom.

                  "Hundreds of prisoners of conscience! The only country in the continent with
                  prisoners of conscience!" shouted one man.

                  Alfaro was on a Vatican amnesty appeal list sent to Cuban leader Fidel
                  Castro earlier this year and is also on Amnesty International's list of adopted
                  "prisoners of conscience."

                  For nearly 10 minutes, the crowd of several dozen people demonstrated --
                  watched by some foreign media and diplomatic observers -- before they
                  were drowned out by a larger crowd that appeared on the spot chanting
                  "Long live Fidel!" and singing the national anthem.

                  The pro-government crowd, nearly all men and including some uniformed
                  security officials, marched at the protesters who moved out of their way and
                  later dispersed. Some observers said they were part of a state-organized
                  unit, known as a Rapid Response Brigade, intended to keep public order.

                  Despite the protests, relatives and supporters said they believed Alfaro's
                  sentence was light, because one charge of "enemy propaganda" had been
                  dropped. They had expected a 12-year sentence. "It's a small success. We
                  expected worse. But it's still an injustice," said Alfaro's wife, Odalys Moya
                  Prieto.

                  Alfaro's trial was the first high-profile case against an opposition figure since
                  Pope John Paul II's January visit led to what dissidents described as an
                  easing of repression against them.

                  The public protest, extremely rare for communist- run Cuba, broke out
                  when police evaded waiting reporters and relatives by sneaking Alfaro out of
                  one courthouse door while a decoy car waited outside another exit.

                  "People were annoyed at being played the fool. It was a rare show of public
                  discontent, but I was kind of impressed the police responded as they did,
                  very professionally, just watching," said a Western diplomat present.

                  Cuban residents and passers-by in the downtown area of Havana gathered
                  to watch the protest without joining in.

                  Some of the demonstrators said they feared repercussions. "They filmed us
                  all with their cameras. We shouted violently. They saw us and heard us, and
                  now we will all go to prison for this," said Carmen Landa, a Cuban teacher.

                  Alfaro's parents, seven brothers and sisters and wife were allowed into the
                  courtroom for Friday's trial at Havana's Provincial Popular Tribunal. But a
                  dozen foreign journalists, several diplomats and a handful of opposition
                  activists were barred from the courtroom, although they did have access to
                  the building.

                  Alfaro was jailed May 8, 1997, and was not included in Castro's release of
                  scores of other dissidents after the pontiff's trip. According to relatives, he
                  irked authorities by promoting a letter to the National Assembly, Cuba's
                  legislative body, urging freedom for alleged political prisoners.

                  "My brother is an internationally recognized prisoner of conscience," said
                  Alfaro's brother, Radame Alfaro Garcia. "I don't think he is a criminal. He is
                  not a killer. What he has merely done is defend the rights of this people,"

                  Judicial officials were not available for comment at the court building.

                  Havana denies it represses freedom of speech or holds any prisoners of
                  conscience, saying government opponents in jail are there on legitimate
                  charges including "counterrevolutionary" activities, sometimes violent. Castro
                  often replies that many other countries, including in Europe, have people
                  imprisoned for illegal activities of a political nature.

                  Alfaro, a father of three, is a leader of the small Association for the Struggle
                  against Injustice (ALFIN) and executive member of the better-known
                  Democratic Solidarity Party (PSD). Both are illegal movements in
                  Communist-run Cuba, a one-party state.

                  According to moderate dissident groups in Cuba, the number of confirmed
                  political prisoners in Cuban jails has dropped to about 380 from more than
                  1,000 two years ago.

                  There has been speculation that after Alfaro serves his sentence, he may be
                  allowed to go depart Cuba as an exile. "That would be the best option," said
                  his wife.

                  Cuba has in the past allowed numerous jailed and convicted dissidents to go
                  into exile abroad.

                          Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.