Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- The mother of a Cuban political prisoner who died after a prolonged hunger strike a year ago was released Saturday after being briefly detained ahead of the first anniversary of her son's death.
Reina Luisa Tamayo said Saturday that she and her husband were released after being held by authorities for 12 hours. She didn't know whether a third dissident was also freed.
Tamayo, mother of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and the others were detained in the eastern city of Banes on Friday morning, according to her another family member, who said they were "badly beaten".
"They were on their way to the center of town," Jose Luis Ortiz Tamayo told CNN Friday, adding that local officials told him that they were arrested because Reina Luisa Tamayo had offended a policeman.
Zapata died on February 23 after fasting for more than 80 days to demand better conditions for political prisoners. His death set off a chain of events that has culminated in Cuba's biggest release of political prisoners in more than a decade.
The Cuban government considers the dissidents "mercenaries" paid by the United States to try to destabilize the island. But in the face of international pressure, President Raul Castro reached an agreement last summer with the Catholic Church and Spain to free 52 political prisoners arrested during a crackdown in 2003.
Zapata's mother has become an outspoken critic of the government, staging very public protests and accusing Castro of "assassinating" her son.
She and other dissidents have been expected to organize marches over the next week to mark the anniversary of Zapata's death. CNN
