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• 09 / 22 / 2008

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Help raise awareness on the case, though millions of Americans still need to know about it, said Cuban Parliament President Ricardo Alarcon.

In statements to the Cuban News Agency, Ricardo Alarcon said “we are quite far from talking about what can be described as a massive solidarity movement in the Unites States. Unfortunately millions of Americas do not have the slightest idea of what happened in Miami, while the demonstrations that took place around September 12 were not practically covered by the mass media.”

Alarcon was referring to the 2001 Miami trial against Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzales, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez, five men known as the Cuban Five, who were given extremely long and unfair sentences, including four life terms, for having fought terrorism. Activists in the United States staged demonstrations in Washington and a music concert in New York City to mark the 10th year of imprisonment of the Five last September 12.

Ricardo Alarcon presented the book “Chronicle of an Injustice” during a ceremony held Saturday in the old section of Havana, and which was attended by relatives of the Cuban Five and other personalities.

Leonard Weinglass, defense attorney for the Five pointed out that the case needs the support of public opinion, since the next actions in the legal case will include trying to have the US Supreme Court take the case for review.

Other efforts will be made in Miami, where three of the Five will be re-sentenced, in tune with the decision of the 11 Circuit of Atlanta’s Court of Appeals, which rejected a petition by the defense attorneys to review its decision, which upheld all convictions of the Cuban Five.

“This is an uphill battle in which the contribution by everyone, the honest and freedom-loving people is very necessary,” said Ricardo Alarcon.

The Cuban five were framed and arrested by FBI agents in 1998 and later submitted to a biased Miami Trial which imposed extremely long sentences after they collected information of Florida-based ultra-right organizations that have undertaken terrorist actions against Cuba over the four decades.
    
(www.cubanews.ain.cu)