Griffin Bell to Defend Flier in Nicaragua Trial

Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Griffin Bell said Friday that he has agreed to represent an American who faces trial in Nicaragua on charges connected with an operation to fly supplies to U.S.-backed guerrillas fighting in the Nicaraguan countryside.

Bell, a partner in the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding, said that he decided to represent Eugene Hasenfus after Hasenfus’ family failed to find another prominent lawyer.

Hasenfus, 45, an air delivery specialist from Marinette, Wis., was captured Oct. 5 after his C-123 transport plane was shot down over southern Nicaragua by troops of Managua’s Sandinista regime. Two other Americans--pilot William J. Cooper of Reno and co-pilot Wallace B. Sawyer Jr. of Magnolia, Ark.--were killed in the crash.

Monday Trial Date

Nicaragua’s Justice Ministry announced Thursday that Hasenfus would go to trial Monday before a three-judge panel of the Anti-Somocista People’s Tribunal, a revolutionary court.

Bell, who spoke to reporters at a news conference at his law firm here, said that he had already asked the State Department to request a two-week postponement of Hasenfus’ trial. Bell said the Sandinista government had indicated that it was considering the request.

Bell said that he needed the additional time to prepare Hasenfus’ defense, but he expressed serious doubts that the request would be granted. Since the Sandinistas came to power in 1979, Bell said, a continuance never has been granted in a case before the special revolutionary courts.

Bell said that a Nicaraguan trial lawyer, Enrique Sotelo Borgen of Managua, has agreed to work with him on the case.

Pleas to Be Entered

When Hasenfus appears before the tribunal Monday, Bell said, he will be asked how he pleads and whether he is represented by an attorney. Sotelo Borgen will handle that proceeding, Bell said.

Sotelo Borgen and Hasenfus’ wife, Sally, who plans to return to Nicaragua on Sunday, will attempt to let the captured American know that he has legal counsel, Bell said. The former attorney general said he would fly to Nicaragua on Thursday but was uncertain whether he would be allowed to participate actively in the trial.

Bell said that he will not charge a fee for his services although the Hasenfus family has said that it will try to raise money for his expenses and to pay Sotelo Borgen, the Nicaraguan attorney.