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FROM
CUBA
Jailed
Cuban dissident asks wife to fire his lawyer
HAVANA, November 13 (www.cubanet.org)
- Dissident Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva,
jailed director of the Cuban Human Rights
Foundation who has been held for 18 months
pending trial, has asked his wife to dismiss
his lawyer as a sign of protest.
Gonzalez Leiva, who is blind, said he does
not believe that he can receive a fair trial,
so he told his wife, Maritza Calderin Columbie,
that he no longer wants the services of
lawyer Isahim Valdia.
"That's the only wish of Juan Carlos
that I can't agree to, although I'm completely
in agreement with his reasoning," Calderin
Columbie said. "I'll keep the lawyer
because he's the only legal link we have,
since he's the one with access to the court's
papers."
The wife defended the lawyer, saying the
delay holding the trial was not his fault.
"If Juan Carlos's case hasn' progressed
it' because justice in Cuba doesn' work."
The director of the Pedernales Prison had
advised Gonzalez Leiva' family that the
trial would be held this month, but authorities
later said there were legal problems involved
in transporting him to the court where the
trial will be held.
Gonzalez Leiva is accused of anti-government
activities.
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