Father demands Cuban justice

MIAMI -- Walking alone on a Havana sidewalk, Danish student Joachim Lovschall was shot to death by a Cuban soldier for allegedly crossing into a Cuban military area.

    Only days before the second anniversary of his death, his father traveled from Denmark to Miami to ask for help in pressuring Cuba to give his son justice and to arrest the guard who killed him.

    Christian Lovschall joined Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., and John Suarez of the Free Cuba Foundation at a news conference on Friday to speak against Cuba's handling of the death and to ask for international pressure for a trial.

    "He was shot at close range without any provocation, and there has been nothing done by the Cuban dictatorship to try to bring anybody to justice since then," Diaz-Balart said.

    Since his son's death, Lovschall has contacted Amnesty International but said that his son's case must get the European Union's attention if any action is to be taken.

    "I cannot get my son back, but I think I owe it to him to try to find out what happened, and at least the people who were involved should be taken to court so we can have a hearing and find out what has really been going on," he said.

    Joachim Lovschall was in Cuba to learn Spanish, his father said.

    After attending a performance at a theater on March 28, 1997, Lovschall walked alone on a sidewalk behind the Cuban Ministry of Defense.

    He crossed the street to another sidewalk that was considered a military area, even though it was not blocked off, fenced in or clearly marked, Lovschall said.

    He said he thinks his son was lured across the street by the guards, then shot so that they could rob him. He said that $100 that Joachim had on him was missing following the shooting.

   Lovschall said authorities did not contact him until nine days after the shooting.

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