Leonard Weinglass I m fortunate to be defending the Five

							Leonard Weinglass: "I'm fortunate to be defending the Five"


New York attorney Leonard Weinglass is a veritable monument to the practice of law. He
maintains an enviable professional vitality after more than 40 years as a defense lawyer. His
perennial commitment to justice - both past and present - is manifest in his defense of those
who have received unjust legal treatment.

He has represented well-known plaintiffs such as Angela Davis, the Chicago Eight, the
Pentagon Papers, Jane Fonda and Mumia Abu Jamal, in his struggle for justice. "But only the
old folks remember them", he says modestly during a meeting in Havana with a group from
the Hispanic National Bar Association and their Cuban counterparts.

For almost four years Weinglass has been part of the defense team for Gerardo Hernández,
Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González and René González - the five Cubans
arrested September 12, 1998. They had infiltrated terrorist organizations located in Southern
Florida to prevent criminal acts being carried out against the Island.

The Longest Trial Ever

During a discussion with Granma newspaper, Weinglass said that the trial that was brought
against the Five in Miami was the "longest that has ever taken place in U.S. history", lasting
almost six months with 119 volumes of transcriptions and more than 200 depositions from a
large number of witnesses – among them important U.S. generals as well as Richard Nuccio,
who was the White House advisor on Cuban affairs during the Bill Clinton administration
between 1992-2000.

The Cuban government compiled a copious amount of information on terrorist activities
planned against the Island and bound them in four volumes, joined by recorded tapes, that
were delivered to the U.S. authorities in June of 1998.

"The material included addresses, locations of camps, and activities by the groups in question
that violated U.S. laws - and above all its neutrality - because of plans to carry out projected
military action against a nation with which the United States was not at war", commented
Weinglass.

"All this was provided to Washington, but Cuba didn't receive a reply – nothing happened. Our
prestigious newspaper, The New York Times, also received valuable information, but
published nothing. The mercenaries that operate in Florida were permitted to go about with
total impunity, and no action has been taken as a consequence of those documents. This is
what motivated Cuba to send a group of patriots to my country to monitor the activities of
mercenary forces that were planning violence against Cuba. The only thing the U.S.
government did, however, is known: they imprisoned the messengers.

"They went to the United States without weapons, and the government has found nothing;
they did no damage to any property; they infiltrated those groups that operate against Cuba
and they did so with success. They committed no crime against the people of the United
States, hurt nobody and just reported the activities of these organizations."

They Are Not Guilty

The five Cubans were found guilty of 26 charges after an improper trial full of violations in
which defense counsels were not granted access to a good portion of the evidence because it
was placed under the so-called "Classified Information Act".

"There are documents that we have not been able – nor will be able – to see" says Weinglass,
in spite of the fact that they are known not to be U.S. government documents.

This is why he maintains that this "is the first case in the history of the United States in which
a court has said: Although this is a case of espionage, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we
don't have specific documents - not even a single page that accuses them of espionage. They
didn't provide a single page of classified information."

But "Miami is different from any other city in the United States: it's the only one with its own
foreign policy that has been investigated by a U.S. group for human rights violations. It is not
a safe city and nothing can be resolved there in relation to Cuba. For example, the Oklahoma
City bombing case was heard in Denver, 200 miles away, to avoid a prejudiced jury. We asked
for the case of the Five to be heard only 25 miles away from Miami in Fort Lauderdale and
were denied."

When the defense presented its appeal to the Eleventh Circuit Court in Atlanta, a panel of
three judges took 16 months to reach a verdict. "In a 93-page ruling – the longest in the
history of the United States - the court for the first time ever unanimously ruled that the trial
held in Miami had been erroneous and reversed all the sentences.

"The panel explained that this case was a perfect example of the storm of prejudice centered
upon Cuba, and for that reason the judgment was reversed. On the last page of the ruling
appeared something that had never before been seen in a court of appeals: a statement
asking the Miami community to understand that the federal judges were obliged to apply
constitutional precepts in a just manner and that there should be an apology for this bad
procedural application of a rightful trial."

"It was an unprecedented decision", said Weinglass, but the U.S. government did not agree
and through the federal prosecutor requested that the entire Eleventh Circuit Court review
the decision of the panel. This request was granted and an oral hearing was held in Atlanta
last February 14. Now we are awaiting the ruling."

Although there is confidence and assurance in all the arguments presented with the truth
clearly on our side, we cannot forget that the case of the Five was a political one from the
outset. The very request to reconsider this ruling by the panel on August 9, 2005, confirms
this. The obstacles will be numerous: in the last 25 years the Eleventh Circuit Court of
Appeals has never granted a defense attorney a victory.

"The history of this case shows a parallel between the relations of both countries. Our legal
system has been affected by foreign policy requirements in relation to Cuba."

Although he is part of the overall defense team, Leonard Weinglass represents Antonio
Guerrero. Has he had recent contact with his client?

"I maintain telephone contact with Tony. He's well, in spite of being in a maximum security
prison which has the reputation of being one of the worst in the United States. When his
mother visits she is never allowed to see him for the entire visiting period as, for one reason
or another, they always shorten the visit."

It's now been three months since the oral hearing before the full Atlanta appeals court. Is
there any news?

"No news is forthcoming from the Atlanta court, but the more recent events on a national
level should be favorable for the case of the Five. I'm referring to the attempt to protect the
terrorist Luis Posada Carriles (under detention in Texas for immigration violations) in the
United States. There are other cases pending in Florida such as those of Santiago Álvarez
Fernández-Magriñá and Osvaldo Mitat, whose trial will soon begin, as well as the arrest in Los
Angeles of Robert Ferro who was found with a large number of weapons and stated he was a
member of Alpha 66 (a paramilitary Florida-based organization that has carried out attacks
against Cuba). They are all confessed terrorists.

"This shows once more that Cuba has been the victim of an aggression that emanates from the
United States and this has been the fundamental defense position we have taken in our case.
The recent events have enabled us to become a little more optimistic in respect to the
decision that the Atlanta court may make."
About four years ago Leonard Weinglass joined the Cuban Five defense team. What has he
gained from the experience?

"I've learned how fortunate I am to be defending these five young men as a U.S. attorney. I
have been personally able to appreciate their courage, gallantry and strong principles, and
this has been a privilege. I can also state that all the other attorneys on the team feel this
way."

If the verdict being awaited in Atlanta supports the ruling of the three judge panel on August
9, 2005, what will happen with the Five?

"The case will revert to the beginning again, in Florida, where we will present our arguments
to support their release and that they be allowed to return to their families here in Cuba."