In Case You Missed This-Convictions of the Cuba 5 Overturned

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I totally missed this.


A federal appellate court in Atlanta overturned the convictions of the Cuba 5 and ordered a new trial on the basis that the men could not get a fair trial in the right-wing Cuban exile stronghold of Miami. The five were accused of spying for Cuba. We speak with Leonard Weinglass, one of the lawyers for the Cuba 5.
It is being called a historic decision in the case of the Cuba 5-five men hailed in Cuba as heroes and labeled spies by the US government. On Tuesday, a federal appellate court in Atlanta overturned their convictions and ordered a new trial. The five were accused of spying for Cuba. In its ruling, the Court said the men could not get a fair trial in the right-wing Cuban exile stronghold of Miami.

In 1998, Ruben Campa, Rene Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Luis Medina and Antonio Guerrero were arrested in Florida and were tried and convicted of espionage, conspiracy and related charges. They were accused of spying on Cuban-American exile leaders and U.S. military bases and convicted in December of 2001. Gerardo Hernandez was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder for engineering the shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996. Brothers to the Rescue is a violent anti-Castro, Cuban exile group that has regularly attacked the island nation.

The five spent almost three years in jail between their arrest and the beginning of their trial. Three of the men were given life sentences while the other two were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. Yesterday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions and essentially agreed with the defense that bias in Miami against Cuban President Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution stopped the defendants from getting a fair trial. In its ninety-three page opinion, the court wrote, "The entire community is sensitive to and permeated by concerns for the Cuban exile population in Miami. A new trial was mandated by the perfect storm created when the surge of pervasive community sentiment and extensive publicity both before and during the trial merged with the improper prosecutorial references."

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/10/1346247