[NYTr] Political Manipulation Will Feature in Cuban 5 Appeals Hearing
 
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2007 17:38:11 -0500 (CDT)


Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Granma Daily - Aug 8, 2007
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/english/news/art108.html

Political Manipulations to be Argued in Cuban Five Hearing

WASHINGTON, August 7.b Defense attorneys representing the Cuban Five
confirmed that when the upcoming hearing at the 11th Circuit Court of
Appeals of Atlanta begins on August 20 they will be presenting
arguments that political manipulations took place in a previous trial
against their clients.

The five Cubans, who gathered information on terrorist activities being
planned by Miami based groups against their country, have been in US
jails since September 12, 1998.

In an interview with the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five,
defense attorney Leonard Weinglass, who represents Antonio Guerrero,
explained that for the upcoming hearing the defense team will give
priority to three of the nine issues on appeal, including Count 3
against Gerardo Hernandez, which alleges he conspired to commit murder.

Weinglass said that the evidence presented in the alleged conspiracy is
insufficient from a legal point of view: "At one point in the
litigation the government acknowledged that their evidence was very
weak and that they in fact could not prove that count."

Another focus of the defense will be the closing arguments of US
prosecutor John Kastrenakes to the jury. "A closing argument is
constrained by very precise rules of law that prohibit counsel from
arguing outside the scope of the evidence. In other words, a prosecutor
cannot make claims in the final argument that are without any evidence
or proof in the case. In this particular instance the prosecutor went
far beyond the bounds of proper argument," said Weinglass.

Weinglass said the third priority is a challenge on the punishment
imposed on Gerardo Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero, Ramon LabaC1ino, who
received extraordinarily long sentences (life imprisonment) despite the
fact this was not a national security case.

"This case was the first case in the history of the United States where
there were no classified documents involved. That is, there was nothing
in the nature of a national-security-published matter that was in this
case," noted Weinglass.

The appeal dossier comprises an inventory of 119 volumes of
transcriptions and some 20,000 pages of evidence. "We have a total of
30 minutes to argue on the most relevant aspects on August 20," noted
Weinglass.

 
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