Cuba
Award-winning blogger abductedPosted Nov 18 2009
Yoani Sánchez, author of Generation Y, reported being abducted and beaten by secret police agents Nov. 7 on her way to a march for nonviolence.
According to the New York Times, three agents in street clothes beat her and a friend, Orlando Luis Pardo, and then shoved them into a car.
Agents told marchers who attempted to help Sánchez not to interfere, “these are counterrevolutionaries.” According to the Associate Press, the agents told Sánchez she had gone too far with her writing.
Sánchez reported no serious injuries and was released 30 minutes after her abduction. The agents refused to show any identification or documentation. Sánchez wrote in detail about her abduction in a blog post titled A Gangland Style Kidnapping.
Four weeks ago, Sánchez became the first blogger to win the Maria Moors Cabot prize for prestigious inter-American journalism.
More information
- A Gangland Style Kidnapping (from Sanchez's blog)
- Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas
- The New York Times