News
USA Indebted for Imprisonment of Cuban Antiterrorists
The U.S. legal system and its rulers have an unpaid debt with their people, for the unjustified 15 year denial of due process for five Cuban men who were fighting terrorism, says Attorney Nuris Piñero.
Source
Prensa Latina
Date
The U.S. legal system and its rulers have an unpaid debt with their people, for the unjustified 15 year denial of due process for five Cuban men who were fighting terrorism, says Attorney Nuris Piñero.
"They are innocent men," said Pinero, lawyer for the relatives of the Cuban Five, in an exclusive interview with Prensa Latina on the occasion of the upcoming 15th anniversary on September 12, of the arrest of Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, and Rene Gonzalez.
"First of all, this is a political case. The Five should never have gone to trial and the least the U.S. government, its legal system, can do is to order their immediate release," Dr. Piñero stressed.
Referring to the current status of the case, Piñero said "we are awaiting the judge's decision on a motion submitted on behalf of the Five individually, to assess the constitutional violations that existed in the judicial process."
Piñero stated that the judicial process has already been exhausted, but "there remains a possibility to allow a hearing on new evidence through the so-called Habeas Corpus or special procedure."
With the Habeas Corpus, "we are arguing payment to (Miami) journalists by U.S. authorities, specifically, the U.S. government," she said.
He recalled that the Five were denied information about the evidence against them, using a law regarding classified information to classify the evidence, granting the prosecution the opportunity to turn over minimal information to the defense.
The Cuban Five, as they are known worldwide, were arrested in the early morning hours of Saturday, September 12, 1998, in Miami. The men were in Miami on a mission to alert their country about terrorist actions being organized from there, similar to those that have killed more than 3,000 Cubans over the last 50 years.
"They are innocent men," said Pinero, lawyer for the relatives of the Cuban Five, in an exclusive interview with Prensa Latina on the occasion of the upcoming 15th anniversary on September 12, of the arrest of Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, and Rene Gonzalez.
"First of all, this is a political case. The Five should never have gone to trial and the least the U.S. government, its legal system, can do is to order their immediate release," Dr. Piñero stressed.
Referring to the current status of the case, Piñero said "we are awaiting the judge's decision on a motion submitted on behalf of the Five individually, to assess the constitutional violations that existed in the judicial process."
Piñero stated that the judicial process has already been exhausted, but "there remains a possibility to allow a hearing on new evidence through the so-called Habeas Corpus or special procedure."
With the Habeas Corpus, "we are arguing payment to (Miami) journalists by U.S. authorities, specifically, the U.S. government," she said.
He recalled that the Five were denied information about the evidence against them, using a law regarding classified information to classify the evidence, granting the prosecution the opportunity to turn over minimal information to the defense.
The Cuban Five, as they are known worldwide, were arrested in the early morning hours of Saturday, September 12, 1998, in Miami. The men were in Miami on a mission to alert their country about terrorist actions being organized from there, similar to those that have killed more than 3,000 Cubans over the last 50 years.