New York Committee to Free the Cuban Five
Comité de Nueva York por la Libertad de los Cinco Cubanos


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August 9, 2005

Breaking News - Cuban Five Win a New Trial!

Announcement from the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five

Today, August 9, after more than one year of weighing the evidence, the 11th Circuit Court of a Appeals vacated the trial court's ruling against the Cuban Five and ordered a new trial with a change of venue. This is a sensational victory for the Five, the Cuban people, and the international people's movement that supports them! The Five will now receive a new trial in a place other than Miami. This blow to the U.S. government undeniably was made possible by the hard work and growing support of progressive, justice-loving people in the U.S. and all over the world.

The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five held a telephone press conference today with the Five's attorney, Leonard Weinglass Gloria LaRiva, , Attorney for Gerardo Hernandez. Richard Klugh, Attorney from Public Defenders Office Miami, Florida and others.

The convictions of the Cuban Five have been overturned by the federal appellate court in Atlanta, Georgia.

The request for change of venue has been granted and the case is being sent back for retrial OUTSIDE MIAMI. This is what the defense campaign has always sought.

As soon as there is more details or information an email will be sent out.

NOTES FROM ATTORNEY LEONARD WEINGLASS

During the trial, the attorneys for the Five requested a change of venue from Miami to another city five times. The judge denied each request. In December 2001, two of the Five were sentenced to life in prison, one to 19 years, and one, to 15 years. Gerardo Hernandez received two life terms.

Why is it not possible for Cuban nationals like the Five to receive a fair trial in Miami ? What role do anti-Cuban terrorists play?

Miami is the one city in the US where the Five certainly could not receive a fair trial. There are approximately 650,000 Cubans who live there in exile. They control the local press and the media, they occupy the public offices, and they are the major business figures in the area. These individuals and institutions are highly influential, and they all have one thing in common: they take a hard line on Cuba . Miami is a different place than every other city in the US . A portion of the exile community has engaged in terrorism against Cuba for decades. Violence against Cuba is heralded in small, but vocal, circles in Miami . For instance, in Miami , the terrorist Orlando Bosch walks the streets a free man. The US Justice Department once labeled Bosch the most dangerous terrorist in the Western Hemisphere . He was responsible for bombing a Cuban passenger airline in mid-flight in 1976, killing all 73 passengers on board. Hard-line exiles and their supporters play a large role in shaping public opinion and debate in Miami . To try the Five in Miami was a clear violation of their right to have a trial free of outside influences that were prejudiced against them. The venue of the trial should have been moved out of Miami to another location.