CUBA.— The international solidarity movement calling for the freedom of the five Cuban anti-terrorists imprisoned in the United States continues to follow the habeas corpus appeal initiated by Gerardo Hernández, one of the prisoners.

Hernández, sentenced to two life terms plus 15 years and held in a Victorville, California maximum security penitentiary, filed the appeal on August 16 before the Miami court of Judge Joan Lenard, the same judge who sentenced all of the Five in 2001. The 65-page defense reply includes new arguments related to this specific legal option.

This reply was the most recent step taken after the government's response to the defense appeal memorandum, filed in October of 2010 in the Miami court.

Among the documents submitted by Gerardo's lawyers on this occasion are three appendices with a sworn statement by Attorney Paul McKenna, in which he admits that errors were made in Gerardo's initial defense.

Additionally addressed in another two documents is the payment of $250,000 to Miami journalists who were instructed to demonize the accused and create an environment which would ensure a guilty verdict.

The standard processing of Gerardo's case has legally ended, but the defense resorted to this extraordinary procedure which is available only once to defendants who have exhausted all other appeal options.

A habeas corpus appeal is filed by a defendant when he or she believes fundamental rights protected by the Constitution have been violated, asking the court to reconsider the sentence.

This past April, the prosecuting attorney Caroline Heck Miller, representing the U.S. government, requested that the Miami court reject Gerardo's habeas corpus appeal.

That was why, in August, Cuba's National Assembly made an urgent statement supporting Gerardo, given that only a few days remained within the appeal time frame.

As on previous occasions, more obstacles were presented. In addition to his already difficult situation in prison, communication with his lawyers and Cuban consular officials was obstructed; his access to correspondence was limited and interrupted, including that of a legal nature associated with the case.

Thus the Cuban parliament demanded an immediate end to the unjust and illegal situation and called for solidarity, especially with Gerardo Hernández, who in 2009 was denied a sentence reduction, when the sentences of Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando González were found excessive and reduced.

The arbitrary nature of his treatment is underscored by the fact that he has been repeatedly denied visits with his wife Adriana Pérez.

Graciela Ramírez, coordinator of the International Committee for the Freedom of the Cuban 5, told Prensa Latina, "We are terribly worried since this man has already been in prison for 13 years, like his four brothers, and now they're making things worse, trying to prevent his arguments being heard."

WHAT ARE THEY AFRAID OF?

The habeas corpus appeal by Gerardo Hernández Nordelo is based on two fundamental issues. First is government interference. Payments to Miami journalists to promote fabrications about the Five have been documented.

It also presents evidence – which was not allowed in the original trial – demonstrating Gerardo's absolute innocence in the downing of two light aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue, an anti-Cuban terrorist organization based in Miami, on February 24, 1996. Gerardo was found responsible for these events and given a life sentence.

The habeas corpus appeal includes a request that the U.S. government release satellite images showing that the planes were shot down over Cuban territorial waters. This would demonstrate that the downing was a legitimate response in defense of Cuba's national sovereignty. If this is not so, what is the U.S. afraid of? "Why has it refused to release these images?" Graciela Ramírez asked.

A decade ago, on May 25, 2001, the White House admitted that it had no evidence to support the charge of conspiracy to commit murder brought against Gerardo and requested that it be withdrawn.

This is substantiated in an official document submitted to the appeals court, entitled Emergency Petition for Writ of Prohibition.

"In light of the evidence presented in this trial, this [the instructions to the jury] presents an insurmountable hurdle for the United States in this case, and will likely, result in the failure of the prosecution on this count," the document reads.

The Miami court rejected the government request and the jury found Gerardo guilty of first degree conspiracy to commit murder. (PL)

JERUSALEM.—The Israeli Navy has deployed two missile launchers in the Red Sea after Iran announced that it was sending a submarine and a warship to the area, an Armed Forces spokesperson told AFP on Tuesday.

"The Navy has dispatched two missile launchers to the Red Sea in response to routine missions in the sector," the Israeli spokesperson added, refusing to link the deployment with the Iranian naval forces’ announcement.

Admiral Habibila Sayari, commander of the Iranian Navy, stated that the country had sent a submarine and a warship to the Red Sea to "patrol at high sea and demonstrate the capacities of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Iran announced its intention to increase its military presence in international eaters in July, studying, among other options, the deployment of warships in the Atlantic.

On Tuesday, Sayari stated that the flotilla, on its 15th mission of this kind in the Red Sea, would concentrate its efforts on "fighting piracy."

In June, Iranian Kilo class submarines escorted a warship to the Red Sea "to gather information." This was the first Iranian naval mission in waters at a distance from its coast.

WASHINGTON.—The powerful U.S. bank JP Morgan Chase has confirmed that it paid a fine of $88.3 million for violating restrictions imposed by the United States on commercial agreements with Cuba, Iran and Sudan.

A notification from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the Department of the Treasury, states that JP Morgan processed 1,711 transfers involving Cuban individuals and entities to a value of close to $176 million, PL reports.

According to OFAC, the Havana-related transactions took place from December 2005 to March 31, 2006. This is the second sanction in the context of Cuba announced by the Office this month. Other banking institutions have been subjected to the blockade’s extraterritorial measures.

The fine imposed on JP Morgan Chase is the fourth largest imposed by Washington since the George W. Bush administration, when controls related to the economic blockade of Cuba – in place for more than 50 years – were tightened.

CARLOS Acosta became the youngest Cuban dancer to receive the National Dance Prize last night upon being presented with this diploma, conferred annually by the National Council of Performing Arts (CNAE).

In the García Lorca Hall of Havana’s Gran Teatro, Culture Minister Abel Prieto; Miguel Barnet, president of the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists (UNEAC); and CNAE president Julián González presented the 38-year-old first dancer and choreographer with the prize diploma, accompanied by paintings by Manuel Mendive and José Luis Fariñas, and a recognition from UNEAC’s Performing Artists’ Association.

The accompanying Gala included performances by the National Ballet of Cuba, the Santiago Alfonso Company, X Alfonso, Danzabierta, the JJ Company and Danza Contemporánea de Cuba. At the end of the Gala, Acosta thanked his dance teachers and the Cuban public, and dedicated the prize to his family, stating, "Every individual is the product of his or her history, for that reason it is only right that I share this prize with Fernando and Alicia Alonso for developing the ballet movement in our country."

............................................................................................................................................