Cuba to try US contractor Alan Gross

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Cuba to try US contractor Alan Gross
Feb 24, 2011, 18:58 GMT


Havana - US contractor Alan Gross, who was arrested in Cuba in December 2009, is to be tried on March 4 by the provincial court in Havana, according to the government website Cubadebate.cu.

Gross, 62, an employee of a firm working for the US State Department, was arrested as he handed out satellite telecommunications equipment that is banned in the communist island.

Cuban authorities accused him of being a spy, but Washington has staunchly denied the accusation and insists that the equipment was intended for the use of Cuban Jewish groups.

The public prosecutor said earlier this month that they will request a 20-year jail sentence for Gross for 'actions against the independence or the territorial integrity of the state.'

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