[NYTr] Cuban Five Trial Politically Biased, Says Italian Lawyer

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

ACN via Radio Cadena Agramonte - Aug 22, 2007
http://www.cadenagramonte.cubaweb.cu/english/news/august_07/210807_02.asp

Cuban Five Trial Politically Biased, Says Italian Lawyer

Havana, Aug 21.- "If the Five's case was exclusively legal, I wouldn't
have any doubt as to the success of the defense," said Italian lawyer
Fabio Marcelli on Monday. He spoke with Juventud Rebelde newspaper
following the third oral hearing about the case of the five Cuban
anti-terrorist fighters unjustly held in US prisons.

Fabio Marcelli is one of the lawyers who attended the oral hearing
before the US circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on August 20 as an
observer. He was also present in the previous two hearings representing
the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

"The defense team of the Five presented their arguments consistently.
Thus, law and justice were favored," added the Italian lawyer in an
e-mail.

• What are the chances of the defense succeeding in their appeal?

• The panel [included] two judges who have already proven to be
objective by overturning the sentence. However, one should take into
account the heavy-handed political nature of the trial.

• What is the deadline of the judges to deliver a verdict?

--There are no established deadlines for rendering a verdict. So far,
the judges have taken between six and seventeen months, which
represents a negative trait of the US justice system and is a violation
of the defendants' rights.

• You have participated in the three oral hearings carried out thus
far, what is your opinion on the performance of the two sides (the
prosecutor and the defense)?

• The prosecutor maintains a strong political position, while the
defense is focused on truly legal arguments.

• How do you assess the position of the US authorities concerning
international terrorists such as Luis Posada Carriles, Orlando Bosch
and Rodolfo Frometa, and the treatment given to the Five?

• The attitude of the US authorities reflects a belief that there is
such a thing as "good" terrorism, which is in line with their
interests. This is in marked contradiction to the position of the
international community.

• What do you think about the US government's restrictions on visits to
the Cuban Five, especially by Adriana Perez and Olga Salanueva, the
wives of Gerardo and Rene, respectively?

• Visit restrictions are a useless cruelty, a true method of torture.

• As member of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, do
you think the right to a fair trial has been exercised?

• No, I don't think so. The right to the defense has been unjustly
limited and the right to a fair trial established by the eight
amendment to the United States Constitution was openly violated. This
fact has been acknowledged by a panel of judges from this court of
appeals and by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

• What steps are your association taking to see justice in the Cuba
Five case?

• The International Association of Democratic Lawyers advocates the
participation of lawyers as international observers at the trial.
That's why a group of lawyers from several countries and myself are
here monitoring the process.

• How can international lawyers continue to influence the struggle for
the respect of the legal rights of these men and their relatives?

• An international conference on the issue should be held to present
the elements of interest from the point of view of international law.

• In August 2005, three judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
in Atlanta unanimously overturned the sentences and ordered a new
trial. Previously, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention came to the conclusion that the imprisonment of the Five was
arbitrary. Aren't both conclusions solid legal arguments for releasing
the Cuban Five?

• The US authorities should have released them after the panel's
decision.

• How do you explain the subsequent reversal of that decision by a full
panel of 12 judges from the 11th Circuit Court, which voted 10-2?

• The decision was utterly political, made by judges who were not even
familiar with the case.

The Cuba Five were arrested on September 12, 1998 and put into solitary
confinement for 17 months. A biased trial held in Miami punished them
with sentences that range from two terms of live imprisonment to 15
years of incarceration. (ACN)