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POSADA CARRILES CHARGES DROPPED; TERRORIST GOES FREE IN US.

Article Excerpt
All charges have been dropped against Luis Posada Carriles. The accused and admitted terrorist faced only charges of immigration fraud. The US has refused to indict him on the more substantial charges stemming from the 1976 downing of a Cubana de Aviacion passenger plane that killed 73, the bombing of a Havana hotel, the conspiracy to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro, or any of a number of crimes allegedly committed while in the employ of the CIA.

In her lengthy decision, Judge Kathleen Cardone of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas El Paso lashed out at the US government. "In addition to engaging in fraud, deceit, and trickery, this court finds the Government's tactics in this case are so grossly shocking and so outrageous as to violate the universal sense of justice. As a result, this Court is left with no choice but to dismiss the indictment," read the decision. The judge reiterated (see NotiCen, 2007-04-26) the narrowness of the charges the government leveled in the first place and upon which she released Posada on bail weeks ago, saying, "The realm of this case is not, as some have suggested, terrorism. It is immigration fraud. Terrorism, and the determination of whether or not to classify an individual as a terrorist, lies within the sound discretion of the executive branch. It does not lie with this Court."

The decision left no room for the argument that convicting Posada on immigration fraud would be something like convicting Al Capone for tax evasion, the right thing for the wrong reason in the cause of justice. She concluded, "A typical defendant convicted of all seven counts with which Defendant is currently charged would receive a maximum sentence of six to twelve months under the United States Sentencing Guidelines. In addition, any time...