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ACN Cuban News Agency<br><br>
September 21, 2008<br><br>
CUBA FIVE<br><br>
Leonard Weinglass: Public Support is Crucial in Cuban Five Case<br><br>
Leonard Weinglass, Defense Attorney for the five Cuban antiterrorist
fighters held in US jails for 10 years now, known as the Cuban Five,
spoke with the Cuban News Agency during the launching, September 20 in
Havana, of the book “Chronicle of an Injustice,” which describes the
case; the book is one more effort to raise world awareness about the
cause of five Cubans who were given extremely long sentences for having
fought terrorism. We now bring our readers the full text of the
conversation with the US lawyer.<br><br>
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Mr. Weinglass, the 11 Circuit of Atlanta’s Court of Appeals recently
rejected a petition made last June 24 by the defense to review the case
and reconsider its decision, upheld the convictions. Could you tell us
what comes next in the legal battle in favor of the Five?<br><br>
- “The legal case is now moving to Washington, where we are attempting to
get the Supreme Court of nine justices to take the case for review, that
is one front of legal work, the second front returns to Miami where three
of the Five are scheduled to be re-sentenced before the trial judge. That
is the other front we are working on. There is a two-front struggle at
this point. It’s very important that we build support for the case in
Washington.”<br><br>
However, we understand that the Supreme Court only takes from 1.5 two 2
percent of the case that are presented each year. What are the chances
for this case, then?<br><br>
-- “It is very difficulty to assess what our chances are. However, this
is a very unusual case; it is important nationally and internationally.
It is a case which won a unanimous decision first at the 11 Circuit and
then it lost two later decisions, but those decisions carried a very
strong dissent so in the three cases we won one and we barely lost two,
so the Supreme Court should look at this record, since it is an ambiguous
record, it is the kind of record that calls out for a review.”<br><br>
As to legal cases you have reiterated your statement that you do not win
in court but on the streets, we understand that public support is
crucial.<br><br>
-- “The lesson of the Angela Davis case, in which I was involved, is that
as you build public support you increase the prospects of obtaining a
victory. She was an African American woman, a member of the Communist
Party, tried before a white jury in a rural county of California and
charged with killing a judge; it was very serious, she originally carried
the death penalty, but she was acquitted of all charges and that was
largely because of the international outcry about her case. In the other
political cases, I have been involved in public support has been crucial.
The Supreme Court this year will get 8000 petitions for review; they will
take fewer than one hundred; our case will only be taken if it becomes a
known case, a rather famous case, then it will be review, so public
support is essential to our work.”<br><br>
Why is this a political case?<br><br>
-- “These case takes every definition of a political trial, and it is a
case that involves not just a political issue but also the relationship
between the US and Cuba. In the trial process they reviewed the 40-year
history of that relationship, and this case is centered in that history.
So it is unavoidable of the process itself that the process itself has
been political since the beginning and it remains political. Senator
McCain, currently running for President referred to our case, so it is a
political case; if it will be decided politically it requires political
support.<br><br>
The presentation of the book, which was printed in Spanish, English and
French, was made by the president of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon
at the colonial building hosting the Cuban Book Institute, in the old
section of Havana. The ceremony was attended by relatives of the Cuban
Five, the president of the Havana-based Casa de Las Americas Institution,
Roberto Fernandez Retamar and other personalities.<br><br>
Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Rene Gonzalez, Fernando Gonzalez and
Antonio Guerrero, were framed and arrested by FBI agents in 1998 and
given unfair and long sentences including four life terms, after they
collected information on Florida-based ultra-right organizations that
have undertaken terrorist actions against the Cuban people.<br><br>
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