Cuban Five Case
to go to U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON,
Dec. 25 — The appeal of the Cuban Five, the anti-terrorist
fighters held as political prisoners in the United
States, is to be brought before the Supreme Court
before January 30, according to one of their defense
lawyers.
René González, Gerardo Hernández, Antonio
Guerrero, Ramón Labañino and Fernando González have
been imprisoned since September 12, 1998 for
infiltrating counterrevolutionary organizations in
Florida to prevent acts of terrorism against Cuba,
Prensa Latina reports.
In an interview with the National Committee to
Free the Five, attorney Richard Klugh said that the
appeal will ask for all of their sentences to be
reviewed, following the decision by the 11th Circuit
Court of Appeals in Atlanta to deny a change of
venue, incorrect conduct by prosecutors and the
improper and discriminatory jury selection.
In Klugh’s opinion, the venue is one of the main
aspects that need to be reviewed, in line with U.S.
law itself and in any legal system.
"If you have a judge or jury who is likely to be
influenced by local passions and pressure, what you
have is a mob rule and you don’t have justice in any
sense," he said, referring to the original trial of
the Five in Miami.
Klugh noted that, in relation to this appeal, the
defense has the assistance of attorney Thomas
Goldstein from the legal firm Akin Gump, a lawyer of
vast experience in Supreme Court cases.
Translated by Granma International
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