Havana, Jan 21 (Prensa Latina) The International Commission taking place in London on March 7-8 will strengthen the call of the release for the Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly condemned in the United States, Belgian activist Katrien Demuynck said today. This is a meeting that due to its dimension and massive support not only of figures but also of great audience can be an important impact, although at the same time is an enormous challenge, said Demuynck, European coordinator of the campaign for the freedom of Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero, and Fernando Gonzalez.
We start saying that they have spent 15 years of unjust imprisonment and we have the dissatisfaction we have done a lot in the world campaign, but it is not enough to achieve their release, she noted.
Rene Gonzalez, condemned along with them, is already in Cuba, because he complied integrally with his prison sentence, the activist told Prensa Latina at a telephone conversation.
The Commission will be led by a prestigious international jury, made up of, among others, Indian Supreme Court's former president Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal, South African Constitutional Court's former judge Zakeria Mohammed Yacoob, and Supreme Justice Court president in France, Philippe Texier.
"The presence of distinguish U.S. writer Alice Walker, winner of Pulitzer award for her book "El color purpura" (The Color Purple), and former U.S. attorney general Ramsey Clark" have been also confirmed.
Also on the list are Rene (Gonzalez), other relatives of the Five, as the group is internationally know, and witnesses from terrorism against Cuba, said Demuynck. She founded in Belgium the Cuba Socialista Initiative and the Che Presente Event.
The International Commission of Inquiry will be divided in five sessions that will be held at the Law Society in London.
The two first sessions will be dedicated to the activities of the Five in Miami, to prevent terrorist attacks against Cuba, and U.S. organized terrorism against the island."
A third session "will deal with right, since the legal viewpoint, to defend the island against terrorism, while the fourth session will deepen in the trial: the violation of the right to a just trial, the presumption of innocence, the right to a biased and independent court, among other aspects."
Organizing an International Commission of Inquiry "emerged from an exchange between lawyer Jan Fermon, leader of Progress Lawyers Network in Belgium and vice president of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, and Olga Salanueva, spouse of Rene, in September 2012," she recalled.
The Five were arrested on September 12, 1998, while at the risk of their own lives, tried to stop terrorist plans against their country from Cuban-born extremist groups operating with total impunity in U.S. territory.
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(Taken from: Prensa Latina News Agency)