Atlanta Court rejects appeal of Cuban Five anti-terrorist case

[magbana]

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 •

- MIAMI 5

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