Cuba upholds jailed American's 15-year sentence
By PETER ORSI
Associated Press
HAVANA -- Cuba's highest court upheld a U.S. government subcontractor's
15-year prison sentence for crimes against the state on Friday, ending
the legal side of a case that has chilled already-icy relations between
Washington and Havana.
The ruling means 62-year-old Alan Gross, a Maryland native who has been
behind bars for more than a year and a half, has no further judicial
recourse to appeal his sentence. It leaves him, his family and U.S.
officials hoping instead for a release on humanitarian grounds.
Gross, who has been behind bars since his arrest in December 2009, was
found guilty in March of bringing satellite and other communication
equipment into the country illegally. He has acknowledged he was working
on a USAID-funded democracy program, but says he meant no harm to the
government and was trying to help the island's tiny Jewish community.
On Friday, the Supreme Court "issued a definitive resolution denying the
appeal filed by the U.S. citizen Alan Phillip Gross and his lawyer
against the sentence issued by the People's Provincial Tribunal of
Havana," said a note published on state-run website Cubadebate.
During the initial trial, the court found, "it was demonstrated that
(Gross) illegally introduced telecommunications equipment in Cuba to
create internal networks as part of a program of the government of the
United States that aimed to promote destabilizing actions in the country
and subvert Cuban constitutional order."
Prominent Jewish leaders in Havana have denied working with Gross.
"While we are not surprised, we are extremely disappointed with today's
ruling, which marks the end of Alan's legal process in Cuba," Gross'
U.S. lawyer, Peter J. Kahn, said in a statement. "The family is
heartbroken by today's decision, but remains hopeful that there
continues to be room for a diplomatic resolution of this matter."
The Gross case has been a stumbling block to any warmer relations
between the Cold War rivals. U.S. officials say ties cannot improve
while he remains in prison.
"We deplore the ruling of the Cuban Supreme Court upholding the
conviction of imprisoned U.S. citizen Alan Gross," State Department
spokesman Mark Toner said. "Alan Gross is a dedicated international
development worker who has devoted his life to helping people in more
than 50 countries. He was in Cuba to help the Cuban people connect with
the rest of the world."
"The United States remains focused on and concerned about the welfare of
Alan Gross," Toner added. "We will continue to use every available
diplomatic channel to press for his immediate release."
U.S. officials said earlier that they did not expect the court to throw
out the conviction, but held out hope that the end of the appeals
process might clear the way for his release on humanitarian grounds.
Gross has lost 100 pounds (45 kilograms) in jail by his own estimation,
several family members in the United States have serious illnesses and
the family has had to sell its home.
Cuban officials, meanwhile, have said privately they are sympathetic to
humanitarian appeals, but would not consider them until the Supreme
Court ruled.
"Alan and the entire Gross family have paid an enormous personal price
in the long-standing political feud between Cuba and the United States,"
Kahn said. "Now, more than ever, we call upon the two countries to
resolve their dispute over Alan's activities diplomatically, and request
that President Raul Castro release Alan immediately on humanitarian
grounds."
Gross' arrest also prompted soul-searching in Washington over the
democracy programs, which are passionately supported by several
Cuban-American politicians. Two powerful Senate Democrats held up $20
million in funding for months, arguing that the programs don't work and
have harmed U.S. interests.
"Nor have they achieved much more than provoking the Cuban government to
arrest a U.S. government contractor," Sen. John Kerry said at the time.
Kerry and Sen. Patrick Leahy recently ended their holds after getting
assurances from USAID and the State Department on oversight.
That prompted scorn from Cuban officials who chided Washington for
funding "subversion" on the island even as the United States neared the
brink of "bankruptcy," referring to the debt-ceiling standoff.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American Republican from Florida, issued a
statement Friday calling the ruling and Gross' detention a human rights
violation.
"Mr. Gross is simply a humanitarian who was seeking to help the Jewish
community in Cuba access the Internet," Rubio said. "The Castro regime's
cowardly fear of what would happen if Cuban citizens have access to
uncensored information does not justify this man's incarceration at all,
much less for 15 years."
He and other Cuba hawks criticized tentative overtures made during the
Obama administration, which has increased Cuban-Americans' opportunities
to visit family on the island and to send them money, while relaxing
restrictions on educational travel for non-Cuban-Americans.
"The time has come for the Obama Administration to put some teeth into
its rhetorical demands for the release of Alan Gross," said Mauricio
Claver-Carone, director of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC.
Gross' employer, Development Alternatives, Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland,
said it was "bitterly disappointed" by the ruling.
"Alan Gross has done nothing more than help peaceful people gain access
to the Internet, and for that he has already served more than a year and
a half in prison," CEO James Boomgard said in a statement.
Cuban authorities have periodically allowed Gross to meet with U.S.
diplomats on the island as well as some visiting dignitaries, including
former President Jimmy Carter in late March.
Associated Press writer Laura Wides-Munoz in Miami contributed to this
report.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/05/v-fullstory/2346552/cuba-upholds-jailed-americans.html
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