Speech van Paul Bekaert op persconferentie na de zitting van 20 augustus 2007 in Atlanta

I am an attorney, advocate from Belgium. I am the president, the dean of the Bar of Bruges. I am also since 30 years a human rights watcher. The Belgian Bar Association, the official organisation of the 8000 attorneys, sent me to this trial. The rights of defense are our great concern. What happens to the Cuban five happened yesterday also elsewhere en can happen tomorrow. The result, the judgment in the case of the cuban five will be very important for more than them. I assisted as observer to many political trials. I pleaded as attorney in many political trials. The story is always the same: isolation, lack of access to the client, the file and the proofs. No judgment in a reasonable time Disproportionate punishment. Secret files. That is why my organisations sent me to Atlanta.