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| A file photo of US aid contractor Alan Gross and his wife Judy. Gross has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for crimes against the Cuban state in the latest setback to relations between two Cold War enemies |
The decision by a panel of judges followed a two-day trial last week in which Cuban prosecutors said Gross was involved in a US-funded “subversive project” to “topple the Revolution.”
US President Barack Obama’s administration reacted angrily to the sentencing, condemning it as an “injustice”. The case was the latest flare-up in US-Cuba relations that have been sour since a 1959 revolution put Fidel Castro in power.
Gross, 61, was convicted of “acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the state” for working to set up clandestine Internet networks for Cuba dissidents using “sophisticated” communications technology.
Prosecutors sought a 20-year sentence for the longtime development worker, who has been jailed since his arrest in Havana on Dec. 3, 2009. US officials had contended from the beginning that Gross was only setting up Internet access for the island’s small Jewish community.
“Today’s sentencing adds another injustice to Alan Gross’s ordeal. He has already spent too many days in detention and should not spend one more,” White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement.
“We urge the immediate release of Mr. Gross so that he can return home to his wife and family,” Vietor said.
Gloria Berbena, spokeswoman at the US Interests Section in Havana, said Gross was “in Cuba helping average Cubans connect with the rest of the world. It is appalling that the Cuban government seeks to criminalize what most of the world deems normal, in this case access to information and technology.”
Gross’ attorney, Peter Kahn, said the Gross family was “devastated by the verdict and harsh sentence.”
“Alan and his family have paid an enormous personal price in the long-standing political feud between Cuba and the US. We will continue to work with Alan’s Cuban attorney in exploring any and all options available to him, including the possibility of an appeal,” he said in a statement.