Cuban prisoner dies during hunger strike

A leading human rights activist says a Cuban prisoner who launched a hunger strike because he was not part of a large prison amnesty has died of an apparent heart attack.

Rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said Monday that Rene Cobas died Sunday in the Boniato prison near the western city of Santiago. Sanchez says Cobas was a common criminal and not jailed for political reasons.

Sanchez says Cobas and about 20 other prison inmates launched a hunger strike after learning they were not part of a massive amnesty announced by President Raul Castro on Dec. 23. He says Cobas died after exhibiting symptoms of a heart attack for two days.

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