Judge renders decision in Posada case: The right to make money is more important than the right to know

by José Pertierra
Aug. 27, 2009

A federal district court in El Paso, Texas, accepted many of the Government’s arguments, not allowing certain evidence in the case of Luis Posada Carriles to be made public. Posada is scheduled for trial on perjury charges in March of 2010.

The Judge imposed a protective order on part of the evidence that will be used at trial. Specifically, Judge Kathleen Cardone ordered a protective seal around tapes and transcriptions that journalist Ann Louise Bardach made in the course of interviewing Posada Carriles in 1998 concerning terrorist actions that he masterminded the previous year.

The judge’s decision, is incredibly, and based on the journalist’s right to “sell her material and she is entitled to the proceeds of that sale.” The Court concluded that “Ms. Bardach should not . . . lose control over that material.”

The economic interests of a journalist to sell her tape recordings, or a book based on those recordings, ought not take precedence over the public’s right to know, as well as the rights of the families affected by the terrorist acts to review the evidence. This decision is a sad reflection of what is truly most important in this society: business above all else.

Fabio DiCelmo, the young Italian that Posada brutally murdered in Havana on September 4, 1997, left behind a family that grieves his absence: Giustino and Ora, his parents, as well as Livio his brother. They, and also the public, ought not have to await the publication of a book that they would subsequently have to purchase in order to review the taped interviews of Posada Carriles.

During all of the legal vicissitudes that we will come across in the coming months relating to the trial of Posada Carriles in El Paso, we must not lose sight that the terrorist has 73 counts of first degree murder pending in Caracas in relation to the downing of a passenger plane.

The charges that are pending against Posada in Caracas are much more serious than those pending in El Paso. Perjury is a poor substitute for 73 counts of first degree murder, and a murder prosecution ought take precedence.

The Montreal Convention for the Suppression of Illicit Acts for the Protection of Civil Aviation, signed in Montreal in 1971, obligates Washington to try Posada in the United States for 73 counts of first degree murder, if it decides not to extradite him.

Posada Carriles is an international fugitive from justice. He fled from a Venezuelan prison to escape justice. If it does not extradite him to Venezuela, the United States is legally obligated to prosecute him for the downing of the plane. Why doesn’t Washington abide by its obligations under international law? This is the heart of the matter.

José Pertierra represents the government of Venezuela in the extradition case against Luis Posada Carriles

Judge blocks release of Luis Posada Carriles interviews

by Jay Weaver
Aug. 28, 2009
Reprinted from The Miami Herald

A federal judge has denied media access to a journalist's decade-old taped interviews with Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles before his trial on charges of lying about orchestrating hotel bombings in Cuba.

But U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone, who is presiding over Posada's case in El Paso, Texas, ruled this week that The Miami Herald, Associated Press and other news media may challenge, on a case-by-case basis, the government's effort to seal sensitive documents before trial.

Posada, a one-time CIA operative who lives in Miami, faces trial in February on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements.

The Justice Department sought a protective order on the handling of certain pretrial discovery evidence to be turned over to the defendant.

Posada's lawyer, Arturo V. Hernandez, opposed such protection -- including journalist Ann Louise Bardach's taped interviews with Posada in which he allegedly confessed to his involvement in the Havana hotel bombings.

Nueva orden de la Jueza en caso Posada Carriles: Esta decisión es un triste reflejo de las verdaderas prioridades de EE.UU.

por José Pertierra
27 de agosto de 2009
Tomado de CubaDebate

El tribunal de El Paso (Texas) que lleva el caso de Luis Posada Carriles aceptó la razones del Gobierno de EE.UU. para rehusar entregar determinada información confidencial sobre el terrorista, quien será sometido a juicio en marzo de 2010.

La Jueza impuso una orden de protección a una parte de la evidencia que será utilizada durante la preparación de la defensa del Posada en el juicio. Específicamente, la Jueza Kathleen Cardone ordenó mantener secretas las cintas y transcripciones que hizo la periodista Ann Louise Bardach cuando entrevistó a Posada en 1998 en relación con las acciones terroristas que organizó este individuo en Cuba el año anterior.

La decisión de la jueza está basada, increíblemente, en que la periodista tiene un “legítimo interés económico en venderlas” cuando mejor le conviene a ella.

Los intereses económicos de una periodista que quiere vender las grabaciones, o un libro sobre esas grabaciones, no debieran tener prioridad ante el derecho del público y de los familiares afectados por el terrorismo de revisar esa evidencia. Esta decisión es un triste reflejo de las verdaderas prioridades de esta sociedad: el comercio ante todo.

Fabio DiCelmo, el joven italiano que Posada asesinó en La Habana el 4 de septiembre de 1997, dejó a una familia sufriendo por su ausencia: Giustino y Ora, sus padres, y Livio, su hermano. Ellos, y la opinión pública, no debieran tener que esperar a la publicación de un libro -pagando por ello- para revisar las grabaciones de Posada Carriles.

Durante todas las vicisitudes legales que nos esperan en el proceso contra Posada en El Paso, no debemos olvidar que el terrorista tiene pendientes en Caracas 73 cargos de homicidio en primer grado relacionados con la voladura de un avión de pasajeros en pleno vuelo.

Los cargos contra Posada que están pendientes en Caracas son mucho más serios que los que tiene pendiente en El Paso. Unos cargos de perjurio son pobres sustitutos para 73 cargos de homicidio, y el proceso por homicidio debiese tener prioridad.

El Convenio para la represión de actos ilícitos para la protección de la aviación civil, firmado en Montreal en el año 1971, compromete a Washington a enjuiciar a Posada en los Estados Unidos por los 73 cargos de homicidio, si es que no lo extraditan.

Posada Carriles es un fugitivo internacional, pues se fugó de una prisión en Venezuela para evadir la justicia. Si no lo extradita a Venezuela, los Estados Unidos están obligado legalmente a procesarlo en territorio estadounidense por la voladura del avión. ¿Por qué Washington no le hace caso a sus obligaciones legales internacionales? Este es el meollo del asunto.