BBC interviews Cuban 5 prisoner

The interview occurred as the prisoners’ lawyers are preparing for a court hearing in late August on legal questions still under appeal. In August 2005, a three-judge appeals court panel nullified the Five’s Miami convictions in 2000 on grounds that widespread anti-Cuba prejudice in Miami prevented a fair trial, but a year later a full appeals court bench overruled that judgment.

An unabridged version of the BBC interview has circulated widely on the Internet. The broadcast version, it turns out, represents only about half of the conversation.

The televised version ends up abbreviating and distorting much of what Hernandez said. Presumably in the name of “objectivity,” it also weaves in charges by a Miami Cuban that Hernandez is guilty as charged and dwells on some of the lesser crimes he acknowledged at his trial, specifically the use of false documents and his failure to register as a foreign agent.

Even so, Hernandez is able to make some important points in the televised segment.

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