Atlanta Court
rejects appeal of Cuban Five anti-terrorist case
BY LILLIAM RIERA
THE
11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on
September 2 denied the defense’s request for a
hearing to reconsider the case of the five anti-terrorist
Cubans, who will have spent a decade of illegal
incarceration in the United States on September 12.
In a news conference in Havana with the national
and foreign press, Ricardo Alarcón, president of the
Cuban Parliament, said that this Appeals Court
refusal to reconsider the case is once again a
result of injustice and terrorism. It ratifies and
enforces a decision made by a three-judge panel from
that same court on June 4 this year.
That decision upheld the convictions of all five
Cubans and the sentences of two of them, Gerardo
Hernández (two life terms plus 15 years) and René
González (15 years). The sentences of the other
three — Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and
Fernando González — were overturned, and federal
court Judge Joan Lenard in Miami is to initiate a
process to issue new sentences for the three.
Alarcón announced that the Five’s defense team
will now appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court; they have
until December 1 to do so.
"We are seeking the return of each and every one
of them, independently of their situation," Alarcón
emphasized.
Alarcón said this latest decision creates a new
framework for the International Action Days in
Solidarity with the Five, which begin September 12.
He urged Cubans and non-Cubans to mobilize and raise
awareness about the cause of these anti-terrorists
based on knowing the truth about their case.
When the general public in the United States is
finally allowed to learn the true facts, it will be
possible to achieve the liberation of the Five, he
affirmed.
On September 12, 1998, the Five — Heroes of the
Republic of Cuba — were arrested in an FBI operation
as they were monitoring right-wing anti-Cuban
extremists. The Five were doing so to prevent acts
of terrorism against the island from southern
Florida with the backing of the White House.
Translated by Granma International
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