Originally posted by National Committee To Free The Cuban Five

Martin Garbus speaks on new motion for the Five‏
June 13 Press Conference:

Attorney Martin Garbus speaks to the press about the latest legal development in the case of the Five

Listen to the audio below

Renowned lawyer Martin Garbus, called “legendary, one of the best trial lawyers in the country” by Time magazine, has joined the team of lawyers appealing the convictions of the Cuban Five. Last week Garbus and Supreme Court specialist Thomas Goldstein, together with long-time Cuban Five lawyer Richard Klugh, filed a motion in U.S. Southern District Court, seeking an evidentiary hearing and the right to discovery on behalf of Gerardo Hernández, in his Habeas Corpus appeal. This motion relates specifically to the issue of U.S. government payments to members of the Miami media during the trial of the Five, journalists whose coverage helped to add to the already poisonous atmosphere in Miami against the Five.

Yesterday, June 13, Garbus held a press conference that was facilitated by the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five. He noted that “A lot of that pressure [to indict to the Five, and then to indict Gerardo Hernández for conspiracy to commit murder] was created by the media…So in large part that media is responsible for the very indictments themselves. And then of course the media is responsible for saturating the jury pool and saturating, of course, the jury that sat on the case.”

Exposure of the government’s payments to Miami journalists has been a key focus of research conducted by the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five during the past three years, in collaboration with the Partnership for Civl Justice Fund and Liberation newspaper. The presence of Miami journalists on the U.S. government payroll, who purported to report as “independent” press, goes to the heart of the unjust conviction of the Five. The Five were not only victims of a politically-motivated prosecution, but a government-funded propaganda operation as well.

Listen to the complete presentation by Martin Garbus, followed by a question-and-answer session with the press, by clicking the link below.

Listen to the press conference

Read the motion

Background on the paid journalists

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