Reprinted from the website of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

The PCJF filed a Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit against the U.S. State Department for its refusal to produce materials in its possession about secret payments by the U.S. government to Miami-based journalists who were reporting on the case of the Cuban Five prior to the trial, during the trial and while the jury was deliberating.

Now, as a result of the PCJF's lawsuit, the State Department has been ordered to expeditiously produce responsive documents in its possession. The first round of production is ordered to begin in October.

“This is a major step forward in the effort to expose the truth about a terrible miscarriage of justice in this case. The documents that the State Department was refusing to produce cover a critical time period for the Cuban Five. The documents that were requested would cover the U.S. government’s payments to Miami-based journalists at the very time the U.S. government was prosecuting the Cuban Five,” stated attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund.

Background

Attorneys from the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund (PCJF) have filed a Freedom of Information Action (FOIA) lawsuit in June 2013 against the U.S. State Department for its refusal to produce responsive materials in its possession about secret payments by the U.S. government to Miami-based journalists who were reporting on the case of the Cuban Five prior to the trial, during the trial and while the jury was deliberating.

The FOIA demand was filed by Liberation Newspaper in October 2010 requesting documents about the government’s covert payments to journalists in Miami from 1998-2002. The Cuban Five were arrested on September 12, 1998, and the seven-month trial began in November 2000.

Attorney Carl Messineo, Legal Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, explained the purpose of the lawsuit at the time of its filing in June 2013: “It appears the government manipulated domestic public opinion to advance their political and prosecution goals. This lawsuit seeks underlying records. They have no right to hide their misconduct.”

Click here to read the complaint.

Please make an urgently needed donation to continue this work. This is an ongoing struggle to expose the truth. The PCJF will continue to demand from the State Department and other government agencies that all of the documents they possess related to the payment of Miami-based journalists during the prosecution of the Cuban Five be released to the public.