dolfo Fernandez Sainz is an independent Cuban journalist who was arrested by authorities on the night of March 20, 2003 for violating the protection of national independence and economy. Known as Law 88 in Cuba, harsh punishments are inflicted on those who speak out against Castro's policies and/or support United States policy. Fernandez Sainz was a correspondent for the Russian human rights news agency Prima at the time of his arrest, according to reports from Reporters Sans Frontieres.

Police officers who arrested Fernandez Sainz performed an 8 hour search of his home, and confiscated a typewriter, fax machine, two cameras, a shortwave radio and many of his writings. At trial, he was accused of giving pro-United States interviews to the Radio Marti network, funded by United States money, and of writing subversive articles on the website nuevaprensa.com. He was put on trial along with five others, and his sentence of 15 years was upheld upon appeal in June of 2003, Reporters Sans Frontieres reported.

Fernandez Sainz is a former government interpreter with a degree in English language and literature. In 1994, he was fired from his job for his anti-Castro beliefs, and began working for Nueva Prensa. By 1995, he was writing for the Patria agency about politics, society and religion, namely his Catholic beliefs. In 2001, he started working for Prima, a Russian human rights news service, and the agency is doing all it can to have him released. On July 25th at a news conference in Havana, spokesmen Alexander Podrabinek and Azgar Ishkildin announced Prima's intention to create an international support committee for Fernandez Sainz. They called for his release and the release of 74 other dissidents jailed by Castro's authorities, according to Reporters Sans Frontieres.

Fernandez Sainz organized a hunger strike, along with several other inmates, to protest the lack of visitation rights offered to inmates. His wife told Reporters Sans Frontieres that he is being held in a small cell without basic necessities.