Cuba frees prisoners

The Cuban government has freed a jailed dissident who refused to go into exile in Spain as a condition for release.



Ivan Hernandez, a journalist who was one of 75 opponents of the government arrested in 2003, was released along with six other prisoners.



He is among a group of dissidents whose freedom was brokered by the Roman Catholic Church, and most of whom were flown to Spain upon release.



President Raul Castro has said he wants to clear all political prisoners from Cuban jails.



Meanwhile, Hernandez says he will continue working as an independent journalist.