Cuban journalist freed from jail

Padron was accused of insulting Fidel Castro

Cuban journalist Bernardo Arevalo Padron has been released from prison after serving a six-year sentence for anti-revolutionary activities, his friends say.

He is the founder of the independent press agency Linea Sur Pres - which was banned by the Cuban authorities.

A number of foreign human groups had demanded his early release.

In April the jailing of 75 Cuban dissidents - many of them journalists - drew international condemnation.

Health

Padron created Linea Sur Pres in 1996, and reported on what he viewed as violations of human rights in Cuba.

In 1997 he was given a six-year prison sentence for "insulting" President Fidel Castro.

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders has said Padron was beaten during his detention and that he has deteriorated physically and psychologically.

However friends say he is in good health following his release, and is with his family in the east of the country.

He is expected to travel to Havana in the coming days.