By Enrique Torres
Havana, Jan. 7 (Prensa Latina) Prensa Latina is posting full interview with the lawyer José Pertierra, which are addressed interesting details about the lawsuit against the international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, which begins Monday in Texas.
Lawyer Jose Pertierra represents Venezuela in its request for extradition of the offender, who is accused of 73 counts of murder.
However, in the trial scheduled for El Paso, Texas, are only listed 11 charges, all relating to the lies told by Posada Lane following his illegal entry into the United States in April 2005. PL-
In your opinion, why a case that seems so simple to solve, or is very simple to the body of evidence has been so many delays?
JP "It's hard to see the hearts of others, to know what the real motivations of the parties, but for the defense of Posada Carriles, the legal team, is very clear that they do not agree that this case came to trial, there to try to delay the process as possible because the longer you hold this case pending, have more facilities to avoid possible extradition to Venezuela, and avoid possible prosecution in the United States for the murder of Fabio Di Celmo.
Because look, if they convict Posada Carriles as a liar by saying he did not know Raul Cruz Leon and the recruitment of Cruz Leon, and explosives that was handed to Cruz Leon to plant the bomb that killed Fabio in the Copacabana Hotel then the next question is why not indict him for murder now because what has emerged is that he is the mastermind of the event, and he boasted to The New York Times about it.
strategically Then the defense has agreed to delay the case as possible, even until recently were asking for another extension the judge refused, so go to trial because they have no choice.
This case was presented by prosecutors in the administration George W. Bush, to avoid saying they are not doing anything against this terrorist, when Venezuela is requesting the extradition.
first thing Bush tax do is to present an immigration case against Posada, where Posada allegedly said these false statements have now gotten into this problem.
lying about how he entered the United States, lies about his knowledge of Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat, lies on the role it played in Cuba with the bombing campaign in 1997 and granted protection U.S. immigration because of those lies. Subsequently, the prosecution presented false charges of perjury against Posada Carriles.
PL-Can it be said that there was a maneuver to prevent them being used the testimony of two of the terrorists imprisoned in Cuba, Francisco Chávez Abarca and Otto René Rodríguez Llerena? Why wait so long to prosecutors ask the judge permission to take the statements of two witnesses?
JP-In the Department of Justice United States are people of good will, good faith, there are tax went to work there because the Justice Department is called, and thought they could achieve. But Posada Carriles case has always been a case has been handled well above the Department of Justice. I think it's a case has been handled in the corridors of power in Washington, White House, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
not forget that Posada Carriles is a CIA man, he says, it says his lawyer, declassified documents say, no doubt about it, and there are many interests that Posada Carriles is tried for something serious or extradited.
's inexplicable refusal to accept the testimony. If prosecutors know that Rodriguez Llerena is imprisoned in Cuba, and imprisoned for having been recruited by Posada Carriles himself, that is not secret, it came out television in Cuba and the world, she knew that everyone including the prosecution, including Cuba, has said, Cuba has sent documentation on this.
For Chávez Abarca out by all TV channels when Venezuela sent him to Cuba and presented him and knew his history. I do not understand why the prosecution wait three weeks before the start of the trial to tell the Court who want to come to Cuba to take the testimony of these two individuals. I can not explain.
I'm not surprised that the judge has told you, it's too late, because they can not do, and it is a pity that the jury, which is what must determine the guilt of Posada Carriles can not hear that testimony.
PL-Is there still a possibility that the trial be postponed again, even though Judge Kathleen Cardone in recent days rejected the lawyers' request for a new extension?
JP "Everything is possible in the vineyard of the Lord saying goes, but the judge has been very strong in recent weeks that it will not grant a further extension. But it would not surprise me at the last minute in court, both the defense and the prosecution can present something new, unexpected, a work that requires her to return to make a decision on a request for an extension.
granted I'd be very surprised an extension, at the moment, but anything is possible in the vineyard of the Lord. PL-
Posada Carriles is accused of 11 counts, but there are doubts that can be found guilty of all. What can we realistically expect this trial? What is known of the prospective juror?
JP "The jury will be convened on Monday. It convened a large group of citizens of El Paso, Texas, being interviewed by the judge, also by lawyers for the prosecution and defense, and each party has the right to reject a number of people without giving any reason. Can not reject a person on racial or other discrimination. When it reaches 12 people when selected, is the trial begins.
The lawyers estimate that the jury selection process will last one day. But I've seen is a process that sometimes gets longer. In the case of the trial against the Cuban Five was a tortuous process that lasted several days. This is not a case like that of the five. The case of Posada on immigration charges, which takes place in El Paso, is a routine case, a case of someone who has lied to immigration, something that happens every day, and the U.S. border with Mexico occurs much more .
The judge is accustomed to these cases, must be horrified by what has happened to this case because it is the man lied. One of the lies is that he entered the Santrina boat to Florida, but he lies and says he came across the border with Mexico, with the help of a coyote walk. Entered illegally, you admit that entered illegally, but hides the way it entered. Why did you lie?
Because it is illegal not only helping someone enter the U.S. illegally, but because if you are helping a terrorist entering the U.S. illegally the penalty is more severe, and Posada was protecting what was Santiago Alvarez, Osvaldo Mitat and others who were in the Santrina, so as not to penalize them and put big convictions.
The Posada case has slope is a case where if convicted, will probably not arrested, as stated previously that the same judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed that before this case and the appeals court returned it.
When she dismisses the case, does so for several reasons, but says that if you plead guilty to Posada Carriles for saying lies about how they entered the United States, under the rules of the court decisions would have to release, because he had already spent a year and a half in prison, and the statement that she would give him was one year, so you should almost six months.
So I think the case has been difficult to avoid true justice in the case of the murderer of 73 people aboard a Cubana airliner in 1976, is the murderer of Fabio Di Celmo is the torturer of so many people in Venezuela, the man who trained death squads in Guatemala and El Salvador, for years, is the man with the CIA in Central America and Venezuela, and therefore must be protected and not to prosecute. PL-
What sentence could be sentenced Posada Carriles taking into account that its charges for perjury is that he denied having recruited individuals who placed bombs in Havana?
Perjury is perjury. The content does not impact the lie is perjury. Perhaps shocked when the judge will pass sentence, because we to assume that they are 10 years in prison for perjury, but after applying the rules of sentence, and no one condemned to 10 years for perjury if the first offense, and in the case of Posada Carriles is the first legally in the U.S.. Taken a number of factors into consideration. PL-
What is known of the witnesses who used the prosecution and defense? JP-
know that prosecutors want to introduce two Cuban officials who were involved with investigations into the murder of Fabio Di Celmo in 1997, Cuban medical examiner in charge of that case. Suppose further that seek to introduce testimony from Gilberto Abascal, the source of the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) who was on board the Santrina, and I guess that will as witnesses to the immigration officers who lied Posada, the officer of the naturalization interview, perhaps a translator, an expert who has reviewed the tape recording the interview with Posada in The New York Times, Anne Louise Bardach, a journalist with The New York Times who interviewed him.
I do not know who presented the defense of Posada, apart from technical experts. They said they want to question the cause of death of Fabio Di Celmo, something incredible. I do not know if they plan to bring back to Joaquin Chafardé, the strong partner of Posada Carriles in Venezuela, which was a key witness in the process of migration.
They say this is a case that could last a month, something incredible, when immigration cases usually last one day. It is whether he lied or not lied. Get the evidence, there is the tape, it is very clear, he boasted to The New York Times of being the mastermind of the bombings of Havana hotels, is very clear, and it is on tape.
The defense will try to cause doubt in the minds of the jury. The bad thing is that the defense must also attested to by the reporter for The New York Times, which interviewed him, and if the jury believes it, then his testimony supports recording what you say.
is clear to me that he is guilty of all charges of which he is charged, no one would doubt that he lied to immigration roughly, since entering the United States. Even the funny thing about this is that one of the arguments presented by the defense lawyer Arturo Hernández Posada Carriles is to be amazed that such charges presented against his client because it was precisely the CIA taught him to lie.
He said, you taught my client to lie and liar now indict. He has always lied, using false names, forged passports. Another important element
Cuba is delivered thousands of pages of documents the U.S. government to support the case against Posada. The ground rules of proceedings, as the United States requires that the prosecution set the share to the defense. But for some inexplicable reason also, the prosecution did not share the majority of these documents to the defense, not until the last minute.
When he finally shared those documents with the defense, the defense objected to the delay and requested an extension. The judge denied the extension, but said that because they had taken too long to share the evidence with the defense, she would decide in the course of the trial and as they were performing documentary evidence, if accepted or not.
is, there is a risk not to accept them, and a fairly high risk.
other thing that has happened is that the defense submitted a formal notice to the Court in these three days, in which they reported that they intend to challenge any kind of witness and evidence coming from Cuba, as not credible, saying that all what comes from Cuba has been falsified or misrepresented, somewhat ironic if the lawyer is a big liar like Luis Posada Carriles.
Their idea is to challenge the evidence not only Cuba, but turn the trial against Posada in a lawsuit against Cuba, or make a routine immigration in federal court in a media spectacle against Cuba. We have told the judge they want to highlight issues that have to do with the trial Batista Sosa Blanco official beginning of the Revolution, the shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue, the case of the Five, the new request legal action presented by the new attorney for Gerardo and allegations of the prosecutors in the case of the Five.
The judge has to make a decision whether to allow Posada Carriles' lawyers in his court converted into a media spectacle for international television or if you have a serious process.
so far has not acted because the defense has not produced those things. The only thing that had was a fairly lengthy transcript of the closure of the case of Five, which shows the prosecution's allegations regarding the shootdown, but do not know what the reaction will be the judge.
Those observing this case should be watching to see if Posada's lawyers, cynically, they manage to turn this into a media spectacle intended to make Cuba into question for the public to forget that he is being prosecuted is Posada Carriles.
PL-How are interwoven in this process the extradition request by Venezuela?
JP-The extradition request was submitted in July 2005 and received a response in November 2005 saying she'll send us questions and concerns. We sent many diplomatic notes asking those questions and concerns, which finally arrived on June 25, 2010.
Basically, the State Department argues that for them there is insufficient evidence to establish probable cause that Posada Carriles was the mastermind of the bombing of a Cubana Airlines plane, which is amazing, when you consider all the evidence was presented and there, and they have.
The State Department's position is not supported by neither U.S. law itself. For the determination of who determines whether there is probable cause to extradite a individual should not take the State Department, but a U.S. federal court. The role of the executive, in this case the State Department, is to deliver the document extradition to the Justice Department, who passed to a federal court for that court to determine whether there is probable cause or not. That I have been violated.
Second, when there are confessions of the perpetrators, two individuals who have been prosecuted and convicted, and those who placed the two bombs on the plane, Freddy Lugo and Hernán Ricardo, confessions which state that Posada Carriles was the head of them, trained them, who knew what was coming. Documents of U.S. government itself Together, involving Posada Carriles in the bombing, sources from the CIA itself, and what he has tried to make the State Department is to leave all that aside.
Note June 25, however, says not rule out the possibility of extradition. Argues that so far there is sufficient evidence for them to proceed. We are negotiating with the government to tell us specifically what they would like to see in order to make feasible this.
suppose that while the liar here in El Paso is pending, are not going to take any action on the extradition. At the conclusion of the case, then Venezuela will present a robust response to the State Department in response to the diplomatic note of 25 June and then proceed with the extradition request. The evidence is there, and we will insist on that.
PL "If we compare the handling of this case with the judicial process undertaken against the five Cubans imprisoned in the United States, what conclusions would you draw.
JP "This case shows the U.S. double standard. The five are innocent, they are neither spies nor murderers, but four have been sentenced for conspiracy to commit espionage, and one of them also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, although none had declassified documents, neither the intention to penetrate U.S. government agencies.
The reason being is precisely five Posada Carriles. They are the United States to protect the Cuban people from terrorist attacks that were grown in Miami and New Jersey, funded by Cuban-American groups and launched against Cuba by Luis Posada Carriles from Central America.
He was in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Central American mercenaries recruited for many of these activities, and Cuba needed information on funding sources and the origin of these terrorist attacks, and so sent the five.
Posada Carriles is free in the streets of Miami, showing off, giving speeches, said yesterday in front of the Versailles restaurant on Calle 8, Miami, who is already year will be in Cuba, but the five are being held in maximum security prisons, so it's a total double standard.
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