The human and professional qualities of U.S attorney Leonard Weinglass and his attachment to justice and the causes of the poor marked an event in New York in honor of the lawyer who died in March.

The ceremony was attended by the Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, Pedro Nunez Mosquera, and other officials of the diplomatic mission.

About 500 people, including relatives and colleagues of the lawyer, were gathered at The New York Society for Ethical Culture to remember someone who stood out for his fight for the cause of five Cubans imprisoned in U.S. since 1998.

The demand for the release of these five men (Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando González, René González and Ramón Labañino) took an important part of the evening held last weekend.

Participants heard a recorded message sent by the president of the Cuba’s National Assembly of People's Power, Ricardo Alarcón, in which he emphasized the human and professional qualities of Weinglass.

Several speakers recounted scenes from the life and work of the lawyer who died last March 23, including his partner Michael Steven Smith, who offered a broad overview of the life of the jurist.

Weinglass will always be remembered as a good friend, loyal, generous, kind and gentle person, a persuasive speaker, a keen political analyst and a visionary, Smith said.

From the professional point of view he will always live as one of the great lawyers of his time, joining the pantheon of the great lawyers of the twentieth century for justice, he said.

Weinglass defended the African-American fighter Angela Davis and 160 U.S. citizens who traveled to Cuba and defied the blockade imposed by Washington against Cuba, among many other cases.

Translated by: Daysi Olano

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