[act-ma] 4/10 Jail Posada! Free the Cuban Five! Picket Line (thurs)

[July 26th Coalition]

Jail Posada!	Free the Cuban Five!

Comparing the treatment of mass murderer Luis Posada to that of the 
Cuban Five is a telling lesson in the hypocrisy of Bush’s war on terror.

Demand the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles!
BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL EXCERPT   April 21, 2007:  “Venezuela is the most 
logical place for Posada to face trial. Failing that, the United States 
should comply with a 1971 international convention, under which any 
nation that refuses to extradite a suspect in an airliner attack is 
obligated to try that person itself. Either in the United States or 
Venezuela, Posada should be subject to a fair and comprehensive hearing 
on the murder charges, not the trivialities of an immigration offense.”

THURSDAY, MAY 10  	4:30 – 6:00
GOVERNMENT CENTER T-STOP

Protests are being held all over the world tomorrow on the opening day 
of Luis Posada Carriles’ trial. Posada is an ex-CIA terrorist and the 
mastermind behind the 1976 bombing of a Cuban commercial airliner 
killing all 73 people on board. Bail for this murderer and the attempt 
to try him solely for immigration crimes, is proof of the hypocrisy of 
the Bush administration. It confirms the double standards in its 
supposed crusade against terrorism.
Free the CUBAN FIVE!
The media has been silent on the case of the Cuban Five. These heroic 
Cubans infiltrated criminal exile groups in Florida to prevent future 
terrorist actions that had already killed more than 3,000 innocent 
Cubans. They have been imprisoned in the U.S. since 1998 on the charge 
of “conspiracy” to commit espionage. Their Miami trial was plagued with 
irregularities. In August of 2005, a three judge panel of the Atlanta 
Circuit Court, calling the trial a "perfect storm" of judicial 
prejudice, reversed the convictions concluding that the Five did not 
receive a fair trial in Miami. Rather than ordering a new trial outside 
of Miami, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales called upon the full Circuit 
to review the decision.  Perhaps succumbing to pressure from Washington, 
the 11th Circuit Court in August, 2006 rejected the earlier decision and 
sent the matter back to the panel where further appeals are now pending. 
  It is time these innocent men were released.

LOS ANGELES TIMES EDITORIAL EXCERPTS	APRIL 20, 2007
A terrorist walks
Luis Posada Carriles has boasted of bombing Havana hotels, yet American 
justice lets him go free.

WITH A MISGUIDED decision upholding bail for Cuban-born terrorist Luis 
Posada Carriles, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans 
has done more than free a frail old man facing unremarkable immigration 
charges. It has exposed Washington to legitimate charges of hypocrisy in 
the war on terror.

By allowing Posada to go free before his May 11 trial, the court has 
released a known flight risk who previously escaped from a Venezuelan 
prison, a man who has boasted of helping set off deadly bombs in Havana 
hotels 10 years ago and the alleged mastermind of a 1976 bombing of a 
Cuban airplane that killed 73 people. Posada's employees confessed to 
the attack, and declassified FBI and CIA documents have shown that he 
attended planning sessions.

… Posada, a 79-year-old Bay of Pigs veteran who served time in Panama 
for plotting to kill Fidel Castro, has never been charged with crimes of 
terrorism in U.S. courts. Instead, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement 
nabbed him for lying to immigration authorities after he sneaked in the 
country in March 2005 and held a news conference announcing his 
triumphant return. Both Customs and the Justice Department lobbied to 
keep Posada behind bars, but U.S. law enforcement has never shown a 
strong interest in trying him for more serious crimes. In turn, Posada's 
lawyer has preemptively warned that if charged, his client would likely 
reveal extensive collaboration with the CIA.

The United States keeps 385 suspected terrorists imprisoned in 
Guantanamo Bay, many in isolation and all without U.S. norms of due 
process. Yet Posada, a confessed terrorist, is sent home with an ankle 
bracelet. …The U.S. government has done many odd things in 46 years of a 
largely failed Cuba policy, but letting a notorious terrorist walk 
stands among the most perverse yet.

******************************************************************************
TAKE ACTION: Call Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and your Congressmen 
to demand the extradition of Luis Posada and the release of the Cuban 
Five.  Alberto Gonzales  (202) 353-1555
Michael Capuano  (617) 621-6208		Stephen Lynch    (617) 428-2000
Barney Frank        (617) 332-3920		Edward Markey  (781) 396-2900


For more information contact: info at july26.org or call (617) 522-9478

www.freethefive.org    www.antiterroristas.cu    www.july26.org

Initial sponsors:  July 26 Coalition of Boston and International 
Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban Five. Call or e-mail to add your 
name to the endorsement list.