SPY CASE
Supreme Court rejects final appeal in 'Cuban Five' spy case
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a bid by five convicted Cuban men to hear
their Miami spy case, closing the book on their appeal.
BY JAY WEAVER AND ALFONSO CHARDY
jweaver@MiamiHerald.com
A Cuban spy case that embodied lingering Cold War tensions between the
United States and the island nation died in the U.S. Supreme Court on
Monday.
The justices, without elaboration, chose not to hear the final appeal of
the so-called Cuban Five. The Cuban men, whose appeal won support from
10 Nobel laureates, claimed they did not receive a fair trial because of
the anti-Castro climate enveloping their 2001 proceeding in Miami.
The high court's decision means the five will not get a shot at a new
trial and will continue to serve lengthy prison terms ranging from 15
years to life.
The five, arrested in 1998 as members of La Red Avispa (the Wasp
Network), were convicted of acting as illegal agents for Cuban leader
Fidel Castro's government. Three were also found guilty of espionage
conspiracy.
The group's ringleader, Gerardo Hernández, also was convicted of
conspiring to commit murder for his supporting role in the Cuban
government's highly controversial shoot-down in 1996 of two Miami-based
planes over international waters -- killing four members of the Brothers
to the Rescue exile group.
REACTION
The high court's decision not to review the Cuban Five's case drew
praise from victims' relatives and Miami politicians. But it also
brought condemnation from the Cuban government and an advocacy group,
the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five.
''This is the best news in a long time,'' said Maggie Khuly, a Miami
architect whose brother, Armando Alejandre Jr., was killed in the
shoot-down. ``It's not everything that we might have wanted, but this
measure of justice is what we have right now.
''It's not only for us, the families, but for the whole community in
Miami,'' she said. ``Our whole community has been vindicated.''
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, welcomed the Supreme Court's
decision not to hear the case during a news conference, where she
pointed to the recent arrests of two accused Cuban spies in the
Washington area as proof that Cuba remains a national security threat to
the U.S.
Ros-Lehtinen said the arrests of retired State Department intelligence
and research division employee Walter Kendall Myers and his wife
Gwendolyn shatters the ''myth'' that Cuba sends spies -- like the Cuban
Five -- to the United States to defend itself from Cuban exile militants
bent on attacking the island. Ros-Lehtinen said the men rightfully
``will remain in this great country that respects the rule of law --
convicted -- and they will remain in jail.''
SUPPORTERS CRITICAL
But the Cuban government and Cuban Five supporters condemned the court's
decision, blaming the Obama administration.
''The judges did what the Obama administration asked them to do,'' said
a statement issued by the Cuban National Assembly, presided over by
Ricardo Alarcón. ``Once again, the arbitrariness of a corrupt and
hypocritical system and its cruel malice toward our five brothers
becomes manifest.''
''It's a disgrace,'' said Gloria La Riva, coordinator of the San
Francisco-based advocacy group National Committee to Free the Cuban
Five, arguing that the men were trying to protect their homeland from a
''terrorist nest'' of exile militants in Miami.
''The whole world knows about this,'' she said. ``It's a shame on the
U.S. justice system. This fight is not over.''
Miami Herald translator Renato Pérez contributed to this report.
Supreme Court rejects final appeal in 'Cuban Five' spy case - Miami-Dade
- MiamiHerald.com (17 June 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/miami-dade/story/1098923.html
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