Five Cuban revolutionaries—Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, René González, Antonio Guerrero, and Ramón Labañino—won a victory last August when a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court threw out their convictions on frame-up charges by the government, which included “conspiracy to commit espionage” for Havana, among others. The court ordered a new trial be held, on the basis they did not receive a fair trial in Miami.

The federal government appealed the ruling, asking the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals based in Atlanta to review the case and reverse the three-judge panel ruling. The full court agreed to the review.

Washington’s latest efforts to reinstate the convictions of the five come as oral arguments are scheduled for February before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. In late December the U.S. attorney’s office in Miami filed a motion seeking to block the 11th Circuit’s acceptance of two amicus briefs filed by state and national legal organizations that oppose the government’s position.

The briefs were filed by the National Lawyers Guild, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Association of Federal Public Defenders, and the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “As distinguished criminal defense organizations, amici offer to assist the court by presenting the cases most pertinent to the fair treatment of unpopular defendants,” said Ricardo Bascuas, a University of Miami law professor, who authored one of the amicus briefs.
 
 
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