CUBA: Protester dies after alleged police beating

HAVANA (AP):

A Cuban dissident died yesterday following a run-in with authorities at a protest, said fellow government opponents who accused police of beating him and provoking his death.

Juan Wilfredo Soto died early in the morning in Santa Clara, fellow dissident Guillermo Farinas said in an interview by telephone from a funeral home where family members were gathered.

Farinas said Soto was detained and beaten last Thursday during an anti-government protest. Soto was hospitalised and Farinas said doctors told him he died of pancreatitis, but he said he had not seen a death certificate yet.

Cuban authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and details of the protest and alleged beating could not be independently confirmed by the AP.

Pancreatitis has a number of possible causes, and Farinas acknowledged that Soto, 46, had a number of pre-existing health issues.

But Farinas said he believes police are responsible: "This killing cannot go unpunished."