Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, president of the Cuban Parliament said the present situation of Gerardo, one of the Cuban Five, should be denounced in all fronts.

Leonard Weinglass, Gerardo Hernandez’ lawyer, traveled last Friday to California to get informed by himself of the real situation his client is in, which we consider a very important step in the managements the Cuban government and the Cuban Five terrorist fighters’ defense team have been carrying out, after they knew he is confined again in one of the hole’s cells from Victorville’s prison having health problems, totally hold incommunicado and forced to a strict regime.

Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, member of the Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party and president of the Cuban Parliament gave this information a few minutes before the Legislative would start its first meeting in the plenary of the Fifth Period of the Ordinary Session from the Seventh Legislature.

One of the purposes of the trip made by Leonard Weinglass, one of the main lawyers of this case, is aimed to claim for the right to visit Gerardo, discuss the situation he is and talk, if possible, about the process of the habeas corpus he is going on.

Alarcon considered a moral obligation to inform all members of the parliament, and not only the members of the International Relations Commission, of the situation is living in this moment one of the five Heroes, as a result of the new violations and arbitrariness of the American government in the case of The Five, and particularly, Gerardo’s, who is having the longest sentence, with two life sentences and 15 years in prison.

The Parliament leader reminded that Gerardo was not favored in the so called re-sentence process, that is, his sentence was ratified, and so, he is the only one who is still in a maximum security cell. And if not enough, he has been in prison for 12 years, and during that time his wife, Adriana Perez, had been denied the visa to travel to the United States, the right to visit him and meet again.

Right now, his lawyers are immersed in the process of the presentation of the habeas corpus, which is an extraordinary appeal; any prisoner theoretically has, once the case had concluded. Gerardo is now in that situation, because last year, the Supreme had denied him to review his cause.

In this situation, and was not precisely known by means of the US State Department, he was sent again to the hole.

It attracts the attention the fact that in every moment during this long process, either when we appealed to Atlanta’s Appealing Court or the Supreme Court, when the Cuban fighter has to keep a frequent communication with his lawyer to present the documents, he had been sent to the hole, as it had just happened now, Alarcon said.

Gerardo –he added- should be working with his lawyers, reading the documents, giving opinions, and he is in such conditions that he even neither have access to his mail, nor telephone communication, that is, he is completely isolated to the world.

Besides that, it worries his health problems, he insisted. Since last April Gerardo had some symptoms who forced him ask for the prison’s doctor’s assistance. He had an appointment on July 20. The doctor saw him and found some evidences that he could have been infected by bacteria and also, he had been having blood pressure problems. He was prescribed some medicine and the doctor said he should make him some blood tests to see if he was infected or not.

On July 21, said Alarcon, he neither went to any hospital nor saw any doctor, but he was taken to the hole again. Of course since that moment on he had no communication at all. This worsens the situation, because there is not only the aspect of the obstruction to justice, but also his health.

"Since we knew his situation, we had asked for information to the State Department and we haven’t got any. The only effective corroboration, up-to-now, is the visit of Gerardo’s sister, Isabel, on Saturday, July 24, who saw him in the hole, and verified he was subjected to punishment regime, handcuffed, having no contact at all, said the president of the Parliament.

Once more, there is total silence. That’s why Alarcon exhorted the deputies to think which their contribution could be in favor to the freedom of our five antiterrorist fighters and, in this particular moment, to talk, to share, multiply, spread, denounce, all possible ways, by letters, mails, faxes, personal conversations or on line, Gerardo’s situation.

The information blockade on the case of the Five is enormous. We have the moral obligation to do a lot for them, and for Gerardo’s personal safety and mainly his health.

He finally said the government of the United States is responsible with Gerardo’s health, and urged it to change the situation of the Cuban antiterrorist, once his personal safety is in danger.

Translator: Caridad Martinez Fernandez