Havana, Oct 3 (Prensa Latina) Fabio Marcelli, general deputy secretary of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, said the trial against five Cubans, now unfairly imprisoned in the US, was totally of a political nature, Granma newspaper reported.

The Italian lawyer, also First Researcher at the Institute of International Legal Studies of the National Research Council of Italy, stated the Cuban Five must be freed, there is no reason to maintain them in prison, and whether there is a new trial they should be released now.

Marcelli declared that the decision by the Atlanta Appeals Court is highly positive, because it reversed the unfair convictions imposed on the Cuban Five.
Referring to the US government request of September 28 to have the Atlanta Court reconsider its decision, Marcelli said, "this almost never happens and only confirms the political nature of the case."

Gerardo Hernandez, Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez, internationally known as the Cuban Five, were arrested in 1998 in Miami and are currently serving harsh sentences ranging from 15 years to double life imprisonment in the US.

Their real crime consisted of gathering information about terrorist plots by anti-Cuban organizations in Miami, Florida, with an aim to prevent the deaths of Cuban and even United States citizens.

The Cuban Five, said Marcelli, have already served seven years in prison, which violates the general principles of any legal system.