Stepped Up Pressure Could Free Cuban Five

Havana, August 10 (RHC)-- After an appeals court in Atlanta overturned the convictions of five Cubans held in US prisons for nearly seven years, the Cuban Friendship Institute (ICAP) called for stepped up pressure on the Bush administration to release them.
In statements Tuesday to AIN News Agency, ICAP President Sergio Corrieri said the decision made by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, ordering a new trial outside Miami, was a victory for justice.
The FBI arrested Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez and Ramon Labanino in September of 1998 and sentenced them to long unjust sentences in December of 2001 in a biased and politically charged trial, plagued with
serious irregularities.
The court ruling was unanimous and recognized the rights of the Cuban Five to be judged in an impartial trial at a non-hostile venue. They had been convicted for a long list of charges including espionage, when in fact their efforts were geared to protecting the island against terrorist attacks planned by extremist groups that operate with impunity out of southern Florida.
Corrieri characterized the decision as good news, but said the international movement to free the five Cubans must continue to demand their immediate release.
He added that there are currently 246 Free the Five committees in 82 countries including 24 in the United States, which Corrieri called a valuable tool in defense of the Cuban Revolution.
The president of the Cuban Friendship Institute added that these friends of the island have been working hard, fully embracing the just cause of the Cuban Five.

Source: http://www.rhc.cu