By Robert Nolin
Staff Writer

Fidel Castro stood trial Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale federal court.

Though the defense table was empty but for a brown plastic water carafe, the Cuban dictator was very much a presence as lawyers argued their case of Castro as
terrorist.

"This man is as bad as Osama bin Laden," said attorney Larry Klayman, calling Castro "an individual equally as bad as Saddam Hussein."

Klayman, chairman of the government watchdog group Judicial Watch, presented the case on behalf of Jose Basulto, founder of Brothers to the Rescue, the Cuban
rafter search organization. Castro was not represented in court.

Basulto is suing Castro and the Cuban government for millions over the shooting down seven years ago of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft, under provisions of
the anti-terrorism law passed by Congress in 1996. Four men died while searching for rafters over the Florida Straits after two Russian-made MiGs blasted them out
of the sky on Feb. 24, 1996.

Piloting a third plane, Basulto returned to Miami unharmed. But he said the episode left him emotionally scarred and resented by some in the Cuban exile community.
He's seeking hundreds of millions in Cuban assets frozen by U.S. authorities, claiming Castro's actions in ordering the planes shot down caused him emotional
damage.

On Wednesday, Basulto and his wife, Rita, were the only witnesses to testify before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra. Basulto described the day his comrades
were shot down. The weather was excellent, and the three planes were outside Cuban airspace when "all hell broke loose."

"I saw a MiG crisscross my windshield," Basulto recalled. He lost contact with the other two planes, then realized they had been shot down. "We saw smoke in the
distance," he said. "I realized we were in terrible distress. We were expecting to lose our lives at any time."

Though he escaped, Basulto, 62, said he is a haunted man, losing sleep and gaining weight. "I lost taste for life," he said. "Sometimes without knowing why, I cry. I'll
have a MiG on my tail for the rest of my life."

Rita Basulto said her husband became "depressed and withdrawn" and suffered rejection from some former exile friends. "We have been subjected to unpleasant
situations," she said.

Klayman presented evidence that Castro, in later interviews, acknowledged ordering the shootdown. He also will submit written pleadings supporting his claim for
unspecified millions for Basulto's pain and suffering. Klayman cited a federal suit in which the lost fliers' families won $188 million from the Cuban government. The
U.S. government took $97 million from Cuba's frozen assets to pay toward that award.

Marra promised to rule soon. Klayman is confident that Basulto will be compensated. "We hope to collect hundreds of millions of dollars," he said.

But the attorney said Basulto won't keep the money: "He'll use it for the liberation movement in Cuba."