[act-ma] 6/06 Protest Court Decision on the Cuban 5

[July 26th Coalition]

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has made thier decision: THEY ARE 
UPHOLDING THE UNJUST CONVICTIONS PLACED ON THE CUBAN 5!!

See below for more information.

MOBILIZE TO EXPRESS YOUR OUTRAGE!!

We will join the ongoing event below and add the message about the Cuban 
5 to it.

*Chillin Against the Villins*

*DeMilitarized Zone*

*Independence from the state!*

Corner of Mass ave and Boylston st!!! 6pm- 8pm!

On this day, Friday and from there on!, we hereby declare the
establishment of a new  DeMilitarized Zone where all those who wish can
congregate to denigrate and repudiate… the war machine and celebrate…
the growth of the new movement from coast to coast willing to oppose the war and opression in
this country and around the world. Bring your signs, and minds, let's
chalk, talk, *play music*, *paint art* and sing leftist songs with
caring and sharing and in unity declaring
that we are “chilling *against* the villins” in this zone to show our
independence from our state!!!!!

We declare our solidarity with the people of the Middle East who share
the misfortune of living on top of the largest oil reserves on the
planet which is the reason behind the current war on Iraq. We declare
our condemnation of those who support this criminal war commanded by
criminals who promote a criminal ideology with criminal intent and
crimes against humanity. We repudiate with prejudice the general assault
on our rights: abuses, excuses, jailings, raids, lies, spies,
xenophobia, torture, extraordinary rendition, and the general police
state system that says we must stand together and support this
generalized oppression. We are no longer the silent generation but are
now willing to Stand Apart and against the mass murdering villins who
are doin the real killin. Join us in the DMZ!!


Chillin against the villin's!!!

Our *DMZ* and our Independence from the Criminal United States of
America state.
Everyone is invited and encourage to join.


Visit or join our facebook group page:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23298225338
soon we will have a full on website dedicated to this.


--

http://www.freethefive.org/

AP – A federal appeals court has again upheld the politically charged 
convictions of five Cuban intelligence agents accused of spying in the 
U.S., but vacated sentences of three of them, including two who are 
serving life terms.

A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned 
those cases to a federal judge in Miami for resentencing based on 
findings in an opinion filed Wednesday that the five gathered no "top 
secret" information. It was the third time the case had come before the 
court.

The full 11th Circuit court already upheld the convictions of the 
so-called "Cuban Five" in August 2006. It rejected claims that their 
federal trial should have been moved from Miami because of widespread 
opposition among Cuban-Americans there to the communist Cuban government.

The five have been lionized as heroes in Cuba, while exile groups say 
they were justly punished.

In the appeal ruled on Wednesday, the five challenged a judge's refusal 
to suppress evidence from searches conducted under the Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Act, sovereign immunity, discovery procedures, 
jury selection and alleged lack of evidence to support their convictions.

"We conclude that the arguments about the suppression of evidence, 
sovereign immunity, discovery, jury selection and the trial are 
meritless, and sufficient evidence supports each conviction," Circuit 
Judge William H. Pryor wrote.

The latest decision included the life sentence for Gerardo Hernandez, 
who was convicted of murder conspiracy in the deaths of four Miami-based 
pilots shot down by Cuban jets in 1996. The panel split 2-1 to uphold 
Hernandez' life term.

The four slain pilots flew planes that were part of the Brothers to the 
Rescue organization, which dropped pro-democracy pamphlets on the island.

Hernandez and the others - Ruben Campa, also known as Fernando Gonzalez; 
Rene Gonzalez; Luis Medina, aka Ramon Labanino; and Antonio Guerrero - 
were members of what was known by Cuban intelligence as The Wasp Network.

The panel vacated the life terms of Medina and Guerrero and Campa's 
19-year sentence, agreeing with their contentions that their sentences 
were improperly configured because no "top secret information was 
gathered or transmitted." The judges concurred with Campa that his 
sentence was too strict because he was not a manager of supervisor of 
the network.

The five acknowledged being Cuban agents but said they were not spying 
on the United States. They said their focus was on U.S.-based exile 
groups planning "terrorist" actions against the Castro government.

After a trial that lasted six months, they were convicted in 2001 of 
acting as unregistered Cuban agents in the United States and of 
espionage conspiracy for attempting to penetrate U.S. military bases.

A three-judge 11th Circuit panel overturned the convictions in 2005, 
saying there should have been a change of venue. But the full court 
reversed that decision, 10-2.

The National Committee to Free the Cuban Five denounced the decision to 
uphold the convictions.

"It flies in the face of the truth. The five men are not guilty of any 
crime," said Gloria La Riva, the committee coordinator. "They were 
saving lives by stopping terrorism. They never had weapons. They never 
posed any harm to the people of the United States."

*Read the decision here (pdf) * 
<http://www.freethefive.org/legalFront/LFAppealsDecision060408.pdf>• 
Click here to read more coverage of the decision 
<http://www.freethefive.org/updates/USMedia/USMAppealsDecision060408.htm>