NORWAY — A public interest forum, “Free the Cuban Five,” will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at Fare Share Commons, 443 Main St.

Tom Whitney of the Maine Campaign to Free the Cuban Five will lead a discussion and present a short film on their case.

Arrested in Florida in 1998, five Cuban men had been monitoring private terrorist groups there who were killing, maiming and destroying property in Cuba. At their biased trial in Miami, three of the men received one life sentence apiece for conspiracy to commit espionage.

Defendants convicted of actual spying for countries other than Cuba receive 5-10 year sentences or less. U.S. generals and intelligence chiefs testified the men did no harm to U.S. interests. The U.S. government paid journalists in the Miami area to produce stories aimed at influencing the jury.

Victimization of the so-called Cuban Five is symptomatic of U.S. assaults on a small island, ongoing for half a century. A State Department official in 1960 attempted to justify the economic blockade, internal subversion and terror campaign that would follow: “The majority of Cubans support Castro… We should immediately use any possible measure to cause hunger, desperation and the overthrow of the government.”

For more information, call Tom Whiteny at 743-2183.