| | |  Americas & Beyond | June 2009 
US Couple Accused of Spying for Cuba Requests Release on Bail
 VOA News
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June 19, 2009
| | Walter Kendall Myers (L) and his wife, Gwendolyn Myers, are shown in this February, 2009 handout image in Washington. The former U.S. State Department official and his wife were arrested for spying for the Cuban government on June 5, 2009, the U.S. Justice Department said. The two were charged with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to Cuba. (Reuters/A. Rea) | |
An elderly U.S. couple accused of spying for Cuba for nearly 30 years asked a judge Wednesday to release them on bail, under certain conditions.
Lawyers for Walter Kendall Myers, 72 and his wife Gwendolyn, 71, filed a motion in a federal court in Washington, D.C.
The attorneys said the Myers' would submit to being placed under house arrest, and would pay for an electronic monitoring program. Gwendolyn Myers' son would also ensure someone was with them at all times.
The couple have been held without bond since their arrest on June 4. They are charged with conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government and to communicate classified information to the communist-led country.
They have pleaded innocent to both charges.
Walter Myers is a former official at the U.S. State Department. The FBI says from August of 2006 until his retirement in October of 2007, Myers viewed more than 200 sensitive or classified intelligence reports related to Cuba. He and his wife are also accused of meeting with then-Cuban President Fidel Castro in 1995. Mr. Castro says he does not recall meeting the couple and that the case against them is "ridiculous."
A federal magistrate agreed with the FBI's assertions that they pose a flight risk. Agents fear the couple would flee to the Cuba Interests Section, located just minutes from their Washington apartment, to avoid arrest. They also found documents showing the couple planned to go sailing in the Caribbean in November.
But attorneys for the couple say they will surrender all travel documents and maps related to sailing in Cuban waters, and stay away from both the Cuba Interests Section in Washington, and their sailboat docked near the port city of Annapolis, Maryland.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP. |
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