Wayne Smith writes to Supreme Court in defense of convicted Cuban spies
Cuba specialist Prof. Smith, along with U.N. and 10 Noble laureates, submits amicus curiae in support of retrial for "Cuban Five"
"I have felt all along that this was a shameful blot on the record of U.S. justice," Wayne Smith, Hopkins political science professor and former chief of the U.S. Interest Section in Cuba, said.
Smith, who has been teaching in between the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the Homewood campus since 1984, has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in defense of five Cuban nationals convicted of spying for the Castro regime in 2001.
The result of their conviction has been a worldwide response in support of the convicted, who are commonly known as the Cuban Five. The Center for International Policy (CIP), of where Smith is the founder and director of the Cuba Program, has not been alone in advocating overturning the convictions. The United Nations Commission for Human Rights has also submitted an amicus brief, stating that the defendants have been deprived of the right to a fair trial.
Additionally, 10 different Nobel Prize winners have submitted similar briefs to the Supreme Court. In total, a record 12 separate amicus curiae briefs have been sent in support of the Cuban Five.
In his brief Smith outlines the organization's position on the case. The Cuban Five were convicted on counts of conspiracy to commit espionage, and in one case, conspiracy to commit murder. But that should only stand, according to Smith, if they were obtaining information on the U.S. government.
"The only thing they're guilty of is being unregistered agents of a foreign power. They had no material belonging to the U.S. government," Smith said.
Smith has followed the case closely since the Cuban Five were first indicted in 1998. At one point, their lawyer had asked him to testify before the Supreme Court, which he says he would have gladly done, but this was later deemed unnecessary. Since then, his involvement with the CIP Cuba program, as well as with the research group Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), has led him to take a greater interest and contribute his opinion to one of the amicus briefs currently in the possession of the court.
Smith, who has been teaching in between the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and the Homewood campus since 1984, has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in defense of five Cuban nationals convicted of spying for the Castro regime in 2001.
The result of their conviction has been a worldwide response in support of the convicted, who are commonly known as the Cuban Five. The Center for International Policy (CIP), of where Smith is the founder and director of the Cuba Program, has not been alone in advocating overturning the convictions. The United Nations Commission for Human Rights has also submitted an amicus brief, stating that the defendants have been deprived of the right to a fair trial.
Additionally, 10 different Nobel Prize winners have submitted similar briefs to the Supreme Court. In total, a record 12 separate amicus curiae briefs have been sent in support of the Cuban Five.
In his brief Smith outlines the organization's position on the case. The Cuban Five were convicted on counts of conspiracy to commit espionage, and in one case, conspiracy to commit murder. But that should only stand, according to Smith, if they were obtaining information on the U.S. government.
"The only thing they're guilty of is being unregistered agents of a foreign power. They had no material belonging to the U.S. government," Smith said.
Smith has followed the case closely since the Cuban Five were first indicted in 1998. At one point, their lawyer had asked him to testify before the Supreme Court, which he says he would have gladly done, but this was later deemed unnecessary. Since then, his involvement with the CIP Cuba program, as well as with the research group Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), has led him to take a greater interest and contribute his opinion to one of the amicus briefs currently in the possession of the court.
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