|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Official: Carriles Would Be Tortured If Sent to Venezuela NewsMax.com WiresEL PASO, Texas -- An anti-Castro militant accused of plotting the bombing of a Cuban jetliner would be tortured if turned over to Venezuela, a former government official in that country testified Tuesday in the man's deportation hearing. Luis Posada Carriles requested asylum in the United States after being arrested in Miami in May on charges that he sneaked into the country through Mexico. Story Continues Below The 77-year-old Cuban is accused of orchestrating the deadly 1976 jetliner bombing while in Caracas. His deportation hearing will also consider whether the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion was an act of U.S. terrorism. Joaquin F. Chaffardet Ramos, testifying on behalf of Posada before an immigration judge, said the Venezuelan government has denounced Posada as a terrorist, and he almost certainly "would be sent immediately" to Cuba. Posada was scheduled to testify Tuesday afternoon. Lead government attorney Gina Garrett-Jackson has told the judge the government is undecided on opposing Posada's deportation to Venezuela. The government of Venezuela has requested that the Posada be sent back to that country to stand trial on charges accusing him of plotting the bombing. Chaffardet said that because of his age, Posada could be sentenced to no more than four years in prison under Venezuelan law. But Chaffardet said the government would torture Posada, and probably would strip Posada of his citizenship, opening the door for his deportation to Cuba. Chaffardet said he has known Posada since the late 1960s and that they worked together as security officials. Posada, who is Cuban, has been held in an El Paso detention center since his arrest. He has denied any involvement in the bombing. A recently declassified CIA document quotes an unnamed former Venezuelan official saying that shortly before the bombing Posada was heard to say that he and others "are going to hit a Cuban airplane." A crowd of protesters at the dentention center Monday demanded Posada's deportation. CIA documents also show the spy agency trained Posada in 1961 to participate in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Immigration Judge William L. Abbott last month asked lawyers in the case to prepare briefs on whether the invasion was a terrorist act. The judge said he would also consider whether Posada had ever provided material support for acts of terror as part of the case. Posada's lawyers have said he did not participate in the failed attempt to topple Fidel Castro's communist government. Posada was acquitted by a Venezuelan military court but that decision was later thrown out when it was decided that he should be tried in a civilian court. He escaped from a Venezuelan jail in 1985 before the trial had been completed. © 2005 The Associated Press
Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2012 NewsMax.Com |