Cuban court commutes death sentence against Cuban-American

HAVANA - Cuba’s only death row inmate will not receive capital punishment, the country’s highest court decided, according to dissident groups.

Humberto Eladio Real Suarez, 40, was the last man on death row in Cuba since two Salvadorans saw their sentence for terrorism commuted from death to prison terms a few weeks ago. His sentence was commuted to 30 years in prison Tuesday.

Although capital punishment has not been banned on the communist island, it is no longer applied.

Cuban-American citizen Real Suarez was captured in 1994 along with six members of the Party for National Democratic Unity (PUND), an opposition group classified as terrorists by the government, for allegedly infiltrating the country.

He had been sentenced to death for acting against state security, and for killing a man to steal his car, according to state website Cubadebate.cu.

The last executions in Cuba were carried out in 2003, when three Cubans were executed after hijacking a boat in an attempt to flee to the US.