UNITED STATES: Cuban 5 denied a new trial

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the original convictions of the Cuban Five on August 10, overturning a unanimous ruling one year earlier by a three-judge panel of the same court, which found that the hostility in Miami towards supporters of the Cuban Revolution meant the five were not given a fair trial. Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino, Antonio Guerrero and Rene Gonzalez were arrested in September 1998 and charged with conspiracy to commit espionage. The "crime" of the Cuban Five was that they had been monitoring anti-Cuba terrorist groups in south Florida. Defence attorney Leonard Weinglass said in a press conference following the decision that "this is not the end of the case". There are nine other issues pending before the court and the defence team are considering taking the appeal to the Supreme Court. Visit <http://www.freethefive.org>.

From GLW issue 679