Cuba Jails Rocker for 'Geriatric Castro' Lyrics

Human rights groups furious as singer faces 4 years for protest music
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 29, 2008 5:23 AM CDT

A Cuban rock star has been jailed and will be charged with "subverting communist morality" because his lyrics scorn the revolution, and rip "geriatric" Fidel and Raul Castro, the Guardian reports. Gorki Aguila, front man for underground band Porno para Ricardo, could face up to four years in prison if convicted of the charges.

The arrest of the 39-year-old rocker, whose music is already banned from Cuban airwaves, has triggered angry responses from artists and human rights groups. Aguila may have infuriated authorities, but he hasn’t “committed any specific crime as defined by the criminal code," said a spokesman for a Cuban human rights group. (More Cuba stories.)

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