SLV^GLD
15th March 2011, 07:25 AM
http://www.cadenagramonte.cu/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4760:us-citizen-alan-gross-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison&catid=25:official-notes&Itemid=17
The Court of Crimes against the State Security of the People’s Provincial Tribunal in Havana sentenced US citizen Alan Gross to 15 years in prison for the crime of “Acts against the Independence or the Territorial Integrity of the State” on Friday last.
The Court’s ruling was based on the numerous testimonial, expert and documentary evidence considered during the hearing, particularly those presented by the prosecution, which proved the direct participation of the US contractor in a subversive project of the US government to attempt to destroy the Cuban Revolution through the use of information and communication systems that operated out of the control of local authorities, aimed at the promotion of destabilizing plans against several social sectors.
During the hearing, the defendant admitted that he was used and manipulated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is subordinated to the State Department and is financed by the DAI contracting firm, on whose name Gross came to Cuba.
Alan Phillip Gross will be entitled to file an appeal, at the appropriate time, before the Court of Crimes against the State Security of the People’s Supreme Court.
Cuba Sentences U.S. Contractor
By NICHOLAS CASEY (http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=NICHOLAS+CASEY&bylinesearch=true)
MARCH 12, 2011, 6:35 P.M. ET
An American working for a covert U.S. program in Cuba was sentenced Saturday to 15 years in prison in the island, the Cuban government said, a verdict that promises to further disrupt relations between the two countries.
Alan Gross, 61, worked as a contractor for a USAID program that secretly provided technology like computers and communications equipment to encourage democratic reforms. He was arrested in late 2009 and accused of aiding Cuban "subversives" and working to overthrow the government. Prosecutors had originally asked for a 20-year sentence.
The court determined that prosecutors had "demonstrated the participation of the North American contractor in a subversive project of the U.S. government that aimed to destroy the Revolution through the use of communication systems out of the control of authorities," according to the state-run Cuban News Agency.
Mr. Gross and his lawyer have said that he was only working to provide Internet access to the island's small Jewish community. On Saturday, Peter J. Kahn, the attorney, said Mr. Gross was exploring options for an appeal. "Having already served a 15-month sentence in a Cuban prison, Alan and his family have paid an enormous personal price in the long-standing political feud between Cuba and the United States," Mr. Kahn said in a statement.
The U.S. State Department, which has long defended Mr. Gross— Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said Mr. Gross was unjustly jailed— repeated demands Saturday that Mr. Gross be "immediately and unconditionally" released.
Mr. Gross's sentence was bound to further trouble U.S.-Cuba relations in the midst of efforts by President Barack Obama to ease restrictions on travel to Cuba and increase exchanges between people living in the two countries. Last year, Mr. Obama allowed more airports to offer charter-flights to Cuba and made it easier for Cubans with relatives on the island to travel to the country.
Jaime Suchliki, a Cuba expert at the University of Miami, says the Cuban government may now use Mr. Gross as a bargaining chip to gain the release of five accused Cuban spies who were convicted in 2005 of espionage in the U.S. Those in the group, known as the "Cuban Five," have become national heroes in Cuba, which has demanded their release for years. Were Cuba to pursue their release through Mr. Gross's case, Mr. Suchliki said it would put the U.S. in a difficult spot, tantamount to a spy exchange of the Soviet era and "admitting Gross was a spy as well."
Philip Peters, a Cuba analyst at the Washington-based Lexington Institute, sees an early release as more likely on humanitarian grounds, now that Cuba has made a strong statement to the U.S. that it can crack down on covert operations in its country. "I don't think [the verdict] is necessarily the final word," he said. "I don't see it in Cuba's interest to hold him for a long period of time."
Since Mr. Gross's arrest, the USAID program he worked for has been criticized as ineffective and too risky for Cubans and contractors that participated. In 2008, USAID itself warned potential participants that they could be put into jail for working in Cuba.
The Court of Crimes against the State Security of the People’s Provincial Tribunal in Havana sentenced US citizen Alan Gross to 15 years in prison for the crime of “Acts against the Independence or the Territorial Integrity of the State” on Friday last.
The Court’s ruling was based on the numerous testimonial, expert and documentary evidence considered during the hearing, particularly those presented by the prosecution, which proved the direct participation of the US contractor in a subversive project of the US government to attempt to destroy the Cuban Revolution through the use of information and communication systems that operated out of the control of local authorities, aimed at the promotion of destabilizing plans against several social sectors.
During the hearing, the defendant admitted that he was used and manipulated by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which is subordinated to the State Department and is financed by the DAI contracting firm, on whose name Gross came to Cuba.
Alan Phillip Gross will be entitled to file an appeal, at the appropriate time, before the Court of Crimes against the State Security of the People’s Supreme Court.
Cuba Sentences U.S. Contractor
By NICHOLAS CASEY (http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=NICHOLAS+CASEY&bylinesearch=true)
MARCH 12, 2011, 6:35 P.M. ET
An American working for a covert U.S. program in Cuba was sentenced Saturday to 15 years in prison in the island, the Cuban government said, a verdict that promises to further disrupt relations between the two countries.
Alan Gross, 61, worked as a contractor for a USAID program that secretly provided technology like computers and communications equipment to encourage democratic reforms. He was arrested in late 2009 and accused of aiding Cuban "subversives" and working to overthrow the government. Prosecutors had originally asked for a 20-year sentence.
The court determined that prosecutors had "demonstrated the participation of the North American contractor in a subversive project of the U.S. government that aimed to destroy the Revolution through the use of communication systems out of the control of authorities," according to the state-run Cuban News Agency.
Mr. Gross and his lawyer have said that he was only working to provide Internet access to the island's small Jewish community. On Saturday, Peter J. Kahn, the attorney, said Mr. Gross was exploring options for an appeal. "Having already served a 15-month sentence in a Cuban prison, Alan and his family have paid an enormous personal price in the long-standing political feud between Cuba and the United States," Mr. Kahn said in a statement.
The U.S. State Department, which has long defended Mr. Gross— Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said Mr. Gross was unjustly jailed— repeated demands Saturday that Mr. Gross be "immediately and unconditionally" released.
Mr. Gross's sentence was bound to further trouble U.S.-Cuba relations in the midst of efforts by President Barack Obama to ease restrictions on travel to Cuba and increase exchanges between people living in the two countries. Last year, Mr. Obama allowed more airports to offer charter-flights to Cuba and made it easier for Cubans with relatives on the island to travel to the country.
Jaime Suchliki, a Cuba expert at the University of Miami, says the Cuban government may now use Mr. Gross as a bargaining chip to gain the release of five accused Cuban spies who were convicted in 2005 of espionage in the U.S. Those in the group, known as the "Cuban Five," have become national heroes in Cuba, which has demanded their release for years. Were Cuba to pursue their release through Mr. Gross's case, Mr. Suchliki said it would put the U.S. in a difficult spot, tantamount to a spy exchange of the Soviet era and "admitting Gross was a spy as well."
Philip Peters, a Cuba analyst at the Washington-based Lexington Institute, sees an early release as more likely on humanitarian grounds, now that Cuba has made a strong statement to the U.S. that it can crack down on covert operations in its country. "I don't think [the verdict] is necessarily the final word," he said. "I don't see it in Cuba's interest to hold him for a long period of time."
Since Mr. Gross's arrest, the USAID program he worked for has been criticized as ineffective and too risky for Cubans and contractors that participated. In 2008, USAID itself warned potential participants that they could be put into jail for working in Cuba.