Cuban journalist held after police dog attack story

A Cuban journalist who wrote a story about a police dog attack during an effort by authorities to halt a brawl has been jailed on terrorism charges.

Juliet Michelena Díaz was arrested April 7, three days before the publication of a report she wrote for Cubanet, a Miami-based independent news platform, about a case of police violence she had witnessed in Havana, Reporters Without Borders said.

Michelena and five other community journalists saw a special police unit use dogs to break up a fight involving two men and a woman March 26, the Miami Herald reported, citing Martha Beatriz Roque, director of the Cuban Network of Community Communicators, of which Michelena is a member.

Police arrested Michelena and several of the other journalists and bystanders who took pictures of the incident on their cell phones, the report said. The journalists were released after a few hours, but Michelena was again detained April 2 and then on April 7.

At the time of her arrest, Michelena was accused of ‘threatening a neighbor,’ but she is now charged with terrorism, Reporters Without Borders said.

The move indicates a "desire to silence her and put a stop to all her critical reporting," said Lucie Morillon, head of research at the France-based press group.