[Ppnews] Cuban Five convictions upheld, three sentences vacated
Political Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Thu Jun 5 10:57:50 EDT 2008
Scroll down for demonstration information
While reading this article, it is important to keep in mind that
not one of the Cuban Five was accused of espionage. The Miami Herald
heralds the court's decision with a big headline: ESPIONAGE. Three
of the Cuban Five were charged with CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT
ESPIONAGE. As one of the lawyers in this case, Leonard Weinglass,
puts it so well:
"Conspiracy has always been the charge used by the prosecution
in political cases. A conspiracy is an agreement between people to
commit a substantive crime. By using the charge of conspiracy, the
government is relieved of the requirement that the underlying crime
be proven. All the government has to prove to a jury is that there
was an agreement to do the crime. The individuals charged with
conspiracy are convicted even if the underlying crime was never
committed. In the case of the Five, the Miami jury was asked to find
that there was an agreement to commit espionage. The government never
had to prove that espionage actually happened. It could not have
proven that espionage occurred. None of the Five sought or possessed
any top secret information or US national defense secrets. Yet, three
of the Five were convicted of entering into an agreement to commit
espionage....The sentence for the conspiracy charge is the same as if
espionage were actually committed and proven. That is how three got
life sentences. The major charges in this case were all conspiracy
related, the most serious being conspiracy to commit murder levied
against Gerardo Hernandez. The government charged Gerardo with
conspiracy to commit murder based on a February 24, 1997, shoot down
of two Brothers to the Rescue planes that illegally entered Cuban
airspace." I'll find and send the decision itself later.
Jane Franklin
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jbfranklins
Posted on Wed, Jun. 04, 2008
Court rules on sentences of 'Cuban 5'
By WALTER PUTNAM
A federal appeals court has again upheld the politically charged
convictions of five Cuban intelligence agents accused of spying in
the U.S., but vacated sentences of three of them, including two who
are serving life terms.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
returned those cases to a federal judge in Miami for resentencing
based on findings in an opinion filed Wednesday that the five
gathered no "top secret" information. It was the third time the case
had come before the court.
The full 11th Circuit court already upheld the convictions of the
so-called "Cuban Five" in August 2006. It rejected claims that their
federal trial should have been moved from Miami because of widespread
opposition among Cuban-Americans there to the communist Cuban government.
The five have been lionized as heroes in Cuba, while exile groups say
they were justly punished.
In the appeal ruled on Wednesday, the five challenged a judge's
refusal to suppress evidence from searches conducted under the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, sovereign immunity, discovery
procedures, jury selection and alleged lack of evidence to support
their convictions.
"We conclude that the arguments about the suppression of evidence,
sovereign immunity, discovery, jury selection and the trial are
meritless, and sufficient evidence supports each conviction," Circuit
Judge William H. Pryor wrote.
The latest decision included the life sentence for Gerardo Hernandez,
who was convicted of murder conspiracy in the deaths of four
Miami-based pilots shot down by Cuban jets in 1996. The panel split
2-1 to uphold Hernandez' life term.
The four slain pilots flew planes that were part of the Brothers to
the Rescue organization, which dropped pro-democracy pamphlets on the island.
Hernandez and the others - Ruben Campa, also known as Fernando
Gonzalez; Rene Gonzalez; Luis Medina, aka Ramon Labanino; and Antonio
Guerrero - were members of what was known by Cuban intelligence as
The Wasp Network.
The panel vacated the life terms of Medina and Guerrero and Campa's
19-year sentence, agreeing with their contentions that their
sentences were improperly configured because no "top secret
information was gathered or transmitted." The judges concurred with
Campa that his sentence was too strict because he was not a manager
or supervisor of the network.
The five acknowledged being Cuban agents but said they were not
spying on the United States. They said their focus was on U.S.-based
exile groups planning "terrorist" actions against the Castro government.
After a trial that lasted six months, they were convicted in 2001 of
acting as unregistered Cuban agents in the United States and of
espionage conspiracy for attempting to penetrate U.S. military bases.
A three-judge 11th Circuit panel overturned the convictions in 2005,
saying there should have been a change of venue. But the full court
reversed that decision, 10-2.
The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five denounced the decision
to uphold the convictions.
"It flies in the face of the truth. The five men are not guilty of
any crime," said Gloria La Riva, the committee coordinator. "They
were saving lives by stopping terrorism. They never had weapons. They
never posed any harm to the people of the United States."
*****************************************************************************************
National Committee To Free The Cuban Five Bulletin
11th Circuit Court Upholds Convictions
Organize Protests Immediately!
Free the Cuban Five NOW! -- Extradite Posada!
Sisters and Brothers:
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, 3-judge panel, has issued its ruling
today, upholding the convictions of the Five Cuban Heroes, including the
espionage conspiracy and murder conspiracy. The life sentences for the
espionage conspiracy charges against Antonio, Ramon, and Fernando have
been remanded to the Miami trial judge for re-sentencing.
Stay tuned into our website and email messages from our Committee for
Cuba's response and the explanation of the decision by the Five's defense
attorneys. We are urgently calling on all supporters to join together in
your cities and communities, to hold protests in front of U.S. federal
buildings or other appropriate places, and in countries outside the United
States, wherever possible, at U.S. embassies, consulates or other
appropriate symbols.
As the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five has recommended in these
past months, an immediate response is extremely important, in order to
bring media attention to the injustice against the Cuban Five, and to show
the broad national and international support for our brothers.
Click the link below for the site of planned demonstrations, and please
email webmaster at freethefive.org so we can add your city to the list.
Hold Demonstrations Thursday and/or Friday
and in the coming weeks
San Francisco
DATE: Friday, June 6
Location: Powell and Market Sts.
Time: 5:00 pm
Sponsor: National Committee to Free the Cuban Five
Contact: 415-821-6545
Toronto
Location: US Consulate on University Avenue, Toronto
Time: 5:00 pm
Sponsoring organizations include: Canadian-Cuban Friendship
Association Toronto, Toronto Forum on Cuba, Free the Cuban Five
Cultural Committee, Free the Cuban Five Committee, Communist League,
Socialist Action, Communist Party of Canada, Young Communist League,
Lawyers' Committee , Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba, Worker
to Worker
Contact: Elizabeth Hill, 416 654-7105
Additional details: An Ad Hoc Committee has been formed of Toronto and
area organizations supporting Cuba; future meetings are planned. Signs
of the Cuban Five are being prepared in advance, and depending on the
decision, final signs will be made the night before. A media list is
being prepared in advance for quick dissemination of a media release
about the demonstration. A public meeting will take place in the first
week, with prominent, knowledgable speakers. A flyer for this will be
ready to be handed out at the demonstration.
Detroit
DATE: Thursday, June 5
Location: Windsor Tunnel (Jefferson at Randolph) South side at
Mariners' Church
Time: 4:00 pm
Sponsor: Michigan Campaign to Free the Cuban Five, Justice for Cuba
Coalition, U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange and MECAWI
Contact: 313 587-9285
Los Angeles
DATE: Friday, June 6
Location: Outside the CNN Building
6430 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles
(Corner of Sunset & Cahuenga)
Time: 5:00 pm
Sponsor: National Committee to Free the Cuban Five, ANSWER Coalition-LA
Contact: 213-251-1025, answerla at answerla.org
New York City
DATE: Friday, June 6
Location: Federal Plaza
Time: 5:00 pm
Sponsor: July 26 Coalition, encompassing many organizations
Contact: 718-601-4751 or 212-694-8720
Contact us: info at freethefive.org
Or call: 415-312-6042
Web: http://www.freethefive.org
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
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