Condemned without witnesses or proof
INTERNATIONAL TRADE UNION MEETING IN SOLIDARITY WITH CUBA
• Ricardo Alarcón analyzes the flagrant violations of the U.S.
Constitution in the trial of the five Cuban heroes and the refusal to
reunite a family
BY SILVIA MARTINEZ (Granma daily staff writer)
"NOT only have they been condemned without witnesses or
evidence; they have also been separated from their families and kept
isolated from each other. Furthermore, despite being political
prisoners, they are locked up with common criminals," denounced
National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón. Speaking at the
International Trade Union Meeting in Solidarity with Cuba, attended
by more than 300 people invited to take part in the May Day
celebrations, Alarcón explained the treacherous and unjust conditions
to which the five heroes are subjected.
Alarcón pointed out that recently Olga Salanueva, wife of René
González (now serving a 15-year prison sentence in Loreto,
Pennsylvania), was authorized for a visa, but later a revocation note
was sent out. The Cuban official asked how was it possible that a
U.S. citizen — René was born on Chicago to Cubans who emigrated
there in 1956 — could be denied the right to see his daughters,
especially the youngest one. The last time René saw her she was
one
year old (she’s now five), and he was shackled to a chair. That child
is also a U.S. citizen by birth. "What U.S. citizen is deprived rights
in
this way?" asked Alarcón. "What American little girl has been
prohibited from visiting her father for such a long time?"
He also condemned the treatment that Olga has received since her
husband René was detained on September 12, 1998. She was
imprisoned for three months, interrogated and subjected to intense
campaigns; she lost her job and thus the possibility of maintaining
her two children. She was taken directly from the prison to an airport
and deported to Cuba, without the slightest possibility of seeing her
husband before leaving.
RENE’S CASE IS A LIVING EXAMPLE OF U.S. HYPOCRISY
Alarcón stated that René González is a living example
of the U.S.
government’s hypocrisy. He observed that René wasn’t accused of
a
premeditated "crime," of having false papers, of "spying." All his
papers were in order, but he was found guilty of not registering as a
Cuban agent. The only charge against him was the "terrible crime" of
joining various tiny Cuban-American groups unmasking their terrorist
acts against Cuba. For this, he was sentenced to 15 years, and must
also serve another five years on probation with the warning that he
must not commit another "crime."
Demonstrating these men’s innocence, finding a just solution, and
revealing the truth to the world in the face of calumny, hypocrisy and
lies would be the surest steps toward eradicating terrorism, noted
the president of Cuba’s National Assembly. He offered detailed
information on how the events had occurred in a
one-and-a-half-hour conference to an attentive and interested
audience.
The attitude against the Five, he highlighted, not only violates U.S.
laws on individual rights, but also legal procedures. Alarcón
emphasized that the men were detained in the early morning of
September 12, 1998; for three days —plus more time later — they
were constantly and intensely interrogated, without being arraigned,
without being charged and without speaking to a defense lawyer.
INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY
Curiously, remarked Alarcón, on the very same morning of
September 12, the FBI informed Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Lincoln
Díaz-Balart that the five Cubans were under arrest. "Why them,"
Alarcón asked, "and not the 25 Florida legislators?" He wondered
why those defenders of the Miami mafia were given such special
privileges.
At that time, the FBI did not know that the men were Cuban; two of
them were U.S. citizens from Cuban families, they did not know the
identity of the other three. From that time on, they unleashed a
terrible campaign against the "five Cuban spies." On the fourth day,
the men were brought before a federal court and accused of spying
on the United States, recalled Alarcón.
He recounted that for the following 17 months, until February 3,
2000, the Five were held in solitary confinement, only used in the
U.S. prison system for those who commit murder or other serious
crimes and infractions within a prison, and the punishment never lasts
more than 60 days. But the Five were kept totally isolated in the
"hole" for 17 months. Logically, their situation made it impossible for
them to have any contact with their families and lawyers, even
though the lawyers needed access to their clients in order to properly
prepare their case.
The trial of the five Cubans clearly violated the Eight Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution by keeping them in solitary for two periods —
one of 17 months and the second lasting 48 days. This similarly
violates United Nations norms covering the treatment of prisoners,
as well as the United States’ own prison regulations.
WHY WEREN’T CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS RESPECTED WHY
DID THE TRIAL HAVE TO BE IN MIAMI?
The press and the traitors in Miami kicked up an irrational fuss, using
every argument, no matter how absurd, to win the great battle.
Thus, eight months after the five Cubans’ arrest, the FBI presented
new accusations and a new element appeared: charging Gerardo
Hernández with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. It was
in
reference to the downing of two light aircraft on February 24, 1996,
an act taken by Cuba in its legitimate defense against repeated
violations of the country’s airspace, after many warnings. From that
moment on, it turned into a trial against the Cuban Revolution,
stressed Alarcón.
According to the law, procedural guarantees take into account the
venue where the trial takes place, in order to guarantee
constitutional rights and ensure that the accused are tried without
prejudice or animosity, and with absolute impartiality. From the very
first moment, there were numerous demands for the trial to be
moved to another city. It was argued, with reason, that Miami was
not the proper place for the Five to receive a calm, impartial trial, due
to the atrocious campaign considering them "dangerous Castro
agents."
Alarcón demonstrated how, in many others cases, the atmosphere
of a location has been taken into account and the venue changed. A
woman on trial because her dogs had killed another woman had her
case transferred from San Francisco to Los Angeles; the Latin
Grammy Awards ceremony — initially proposed for Miami — was
changed to Los Angeles after threats of violence, as the participants’
safety could not be guaranteed; the trial of the mass murderers in
Oklahoma City was subsequently relocated to Colorado in order to
avoid problems. Why was the same not done in this case, as
provided for in law?
Joan Lenard, the Miami federal judge assigned to the case, always
refused to explain why the trial had to be held there, and only there,
in a city where there is anything but justice and the guarantee of a
fair trial, and even less for a Cuban from Cuba, Alarcón remarked.
On November 27, 2000, in the same location where the jury
selection was taking place for the trial of the Five, the anti-Cuba
mafia held a press conference featuring the relatives of those who
died in the Brothers to the Rescue planes that were shot down.
SECRET ‘EVIDENCE’ UNAVAILABLE TO THE DEFENSE
The defense attorneys had to rely on the news media to learn about
alleged evidence against their clients, as well as the steps taken by
the prosecution, about which they didn’t receive information officially.
The government classified all its evidence as secret and arranged for
it to be viewed according to the laws on classified information. It’s
known, Alarcón noted, that the court turned over more than 1,400
pages of documentation to the counterrevolutionary spokespersons,
which they manipulated to their liking, thereby made the disgusting
propaganda against the Five and the Revolution even sleazier.
The president of the National Assembly recognized the defense
lawyers’ professionalism, especially considering that none of the
young Cubans had the money to pay for their services. They
unmasked the shady maneuvers of the prosecution, which had sold
out to the Mafia, and demonstrated how the Miami
counterrevolutionaries carry out terrorist activities against Cuba,
thereby justifying the presence of the Five in that Florida city, in
defense of their homeland and of the people of the United States as
well. Despite their political ideologies, the understood the nobility of
the young men’s intentions and the heroism of their actions.
ESPIONAGE IN THE UNITED STATES? THEY ALL SAID NO
He stated that this is the first time someone has been convicted
without witnesses or evidence, since it was proven that espionage
was by no means committed. Recognizably credible witnesses, who
would never lie in such a case, appeared on the witness stand and
were asked if any of the Five had ever had access to or looked for
secret information, and they always answered "No."
Respected people qualified to offer opinions in this case recognized
that the accused had not committed espionage against the United
States, nor did they look for secret information that would affect the
United States or its people. Among them were General Charles
Wilhelm, former head of the Southern Command; General Edward
Atkeson, former deputy chief of staff for Army intelligence; Admiral
Eugene Carroll, former deputy of naval operations; Colonel George
Buckner, who had held a key position in the U.S. Air Defense
Command System; and James Clapper, former director of the
Central Intelligence Agency. They all responded that the Five did not
commit espionage, and their testimony is recorded in the 20,000
pages of trial documentation, Alarcón emphasized.
Not one piece of circumstantial evidence was presented; the truth of
their innocence was patently clear. Their only sin was having
penetrated anti-Cuba terrorist groups in order to protect their people
from death; and this charge, if one can call it that, they never denied.
The terrorist mafia recognized its failures and dedicated all its tricks
to intimidating the court and the prosecution. The charges were
modified, given that evidence was not shared, but the defense
rejected those modifications and demanded that the proof be
provided. At this point, the prosecution appealed to the Atlanta court
for approval of the modifications and the response was to allow the
judge to make the decision.
Alarcón clarified that although nobody says it, the documentation
clearly demonstrates that a protest broke out when the time came
for jury deliberation. Jurors complained about the siege of television
cameras, because they followed the jurors’ every step, and wrote
down the license plate numbers on their cars. Judge Lenard herself
asked that the court be allowed to deliberate in peace and that the
jurors should no longer be hounded.
An article entitled "Fear of Being a Juror in Spy Trial," published in
the
newspaper El Nuevo Herald, reflects what the Cuban exiles are
capable of, if someone dared to make a mistake. The well-known
antecedent of the Elián González kidnapping did not allow
for
mistakes.
A curious thing caught Alarcón’s attention. Before the jury went
off
to deliberate, the foreman, with unusual exactitude in such cases,
announced the day and the time that he would report the verdict.
The jury did not ask for clarification on any point, nor were any
questions asked. It was no easy thing to reach a verdict in such a
complicated case that had presented over 20,000 pages of
documented information and without any proof of guilt, as The
Miami Herald recognized, and yet the jurors moved through the
process as if everything had been settled.
The jury ignored everything. It forgot about legality, justice and the
Constitution. It did not in any way take into account the attenuating
circumstances suggested by the prosecution and convicted Gerardo
Hernández to two life sentences plus 15 years; Ramón Labañino
received one life sentence plus 18 years; Fernando González, 19
years imprisonment; René González, 15 years; and Antonio
Guerrero, a life sentence plus 10 years.
Alarcón emphasized that the Five are political prisoners but are
denied that status, and therefore are forced to carry out their
sentences under the same conditions as common criminals.
The case is now awaiting appeal in an Atlanta court, which has not
yet received the documentation and has therefore not been able to
set a hearing date. The delay is due to the fact that the court is giving
the defense time, awaiting allegedly new evidence of some 150
pages considered secret, making the situation very difficult for the
accused and their lawyers. And this judicial barbarity is taking place
in
the most "democratic" country, where human and constitutional
rights are most "respected." It’s the height of U.S. politics’ double
standard and hypocrisy.
Alarcón directed the audience’s attention to the fact that the this
case has been met with absolute silence in the U.S. media. Neither
Cuba nor anyone else has any doubt that if U.S. public knew the
whole truth, which is there to see in the trial documentation, if they
knew the facts, the reaction of those noble citizens would be
different.
They are innocent and are facing a manipulated and spurious
process. Only a tenacious struggle by the Cuban people, who will not
rest until the Five return to Cuba and by the international solidarity
movement, which can wage the struggle in the very heart of the
empire that imprisons them; only the struggle of everyone can free
them. That universal struggle for justice will be what introduces true
anti-terrorist actions to the world, Alarcón declared.