Hector Maseda’s wife Laura Pollan (centre) is the leader of the Ladies in White group The prominent Cuban political prisoner Hector Maseda has been released.
He is the latest dissident to be freed by the communist government under a deal brokered by the Roman Catholic church.
Mr Maseda was among 52 dissidents Cuba’s communist government agreed to free last July, but his release was delayed until now because he refused to go into exile in Spain.
He has now been allowed to return to his home in Havana.
Mr Maseda, 68, is journalist and former nuclear engineer who founded the banned Liberal Democratic Party.
He is the husband of Laura Pollan, the leader of the Ladies in White group that has been campaigning for the release of all political prisoners.
The church announced he would be freed on Friday, But he initially refused to leave jail unless he was given a full pardon instead of a conditional release.
Mr Maseda was one of 75 people arrested in 2003 in a government crackdown on dissidents.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes against the state.
In July 2010 the government agreed to release 52 of the dissidents.
Most of the group were released in the weeks after last year’s agreement and went into exile in Spain.
But 11, including Mr Maseda, remained in jail because they refused to go into exile.
Last week the church said the government had agreed that some could stay in Cuba, and two others – Eduardo Diaz and Guido Sigler – were subsequently released.
The Cuban authorities generally refer to the detained dissidents as common criminals or mercenaries paid by Washington to destabilise the communist system.
The release of political prisoners has been a key demand of the US and EU if economic ties are to be improved.
Opposition groups say there are still around 100 political prisoners in Cuban jails.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.