Nothing Justifies Keeping the Cuban Five in Prison

by Bernarda Romero
One year has passed since the 11th Court of Appeals of Atlanta issued its ruling on he Cuban Five. A three-judge panel unanimously decided to annul the trial held in Miami against the five anti-terrorist fighters imprisoned in US jails and revoke their sentences. Despite this well-deserved and long-coming justice in the case of the Cuban Five, they remain in prison to this day.

For lawyer Roberto Gonzalez, brother of Rene Gonzalez, one of the Cuban Five, this lack of action by US authorities "has no explanation." Nonetheless, he recognizes that such injustice is a result of the hostile policy against the island that has been in place for more than 45 years.

Roberto Gonzalez told how the US District Attorney's Office resorted to a rarely
used recourse permissible only under exceptional circumstances when it requested that the August 9, 2005 ruling in favour of the Cuban Five be reviewed by the full panel of appeal court judges.

On February 14, 2006, an oral hearing before the court's 12 judges was held in connection with the August 9 ruling. Roberto Gonzalez, however, argues that there were no grounds to reconsider that ruling and that, "from a legal point of view, the District Attorney's Office has no sound arguments."

Is there a reason for delaying the new ruling?

From a legal stand point, no. Essentially, the 12 judges are simply discussing whether a person should be tried in a biased atmosphere. Certainly not. Would five Cubans working for the Cuban government experience any prejudice if tried in Miami? The answer seems evident.

This is what is being discussed, a question of form, not content. For they are not even analyzing the case in depth, that is, the charges against the Five for conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to conduct espionage, nor are they investigating the poor application of the Classified Information Procedure Act. None of these essential elements of the case have been touched by the Atlanta Court of Appeals. In their first decision, a panel of three judges simply ruled on a question of form; that is, that Miami was not the appropriate venue for an impartial trial for the Five.

What happens if the full Court of Appeals overturns the August 9 ruling?

Then we would return to the three original judges and ask that they review the
aforementioned issues, which were not included in their debate.

What if the August 9 ruling is upheld by the full court?

That would be a favorable decision for us. Then we would have to wait and see if,
represented by the Attorney General's Office, the US government would resort to an appeal before the Supreme Court.

And the process could be extended indefinitely?

Exactly. We are witnessing a judicial mechanism working to perpetuate an incarceration that is clearly for political reasons. All the legal procedures brought against the Five since September 12, 1998, are expressions of hatred, pressure and blackmail by individuals who see the Cuban Five as the embodiment of the courage and rebelliousness of the Cuban people -whose spirit they have been unable to break.

At this point, is there any indication regarding a new verdict?

No. This will be a surprise just as happened last year. It will come whenever they want. There are no signs or indications whatsoever. None. In the meantime, 12 more months have passed of unfair incarceration for the Five.

The appropriate thing would be for the full court to ratify the August 9 ruling. This is why it is so important to strengthen the international movement of solidarity with the Five; to see it grow and diversify, especially in the United States.

e-mail:: ns@ain.cu