• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 03 / 13 / 2011

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Mar 13, 2011.  Havana - The Cuban government has freed another 10 political prisoners which it intends to exile to Spain, the Catholic church said Saturday.

The released prisoners include Elias Biscet, who was seized in 2003 with 74 other opposition activists and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

The announcement came the same day that a 15-year sentence against a US government contractor was publicized. Alan Gross was found guilty of alleged subversive activities against the government for bringing in equipment to give internet access to Cubans.

The Havana Archbishop Orlando Marquez said that the new prisoner release brings to 94 the number of political prisoners released and exiled to Spain. Most have moved to Spain along with their families. The Catholic church played a key role in negotiating their release.

Biscet, 49, recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, belongs to the few dissidents who have until now refused to agree to Spanish exile in exchange for their release.

With the release of Biscet and the other nine, there are now only three of the original group still in prison: Librado Linares, Felix Navarro and Jose Ferrer.

The Cuban government denies holding any political prisoners, insisting that they have all been tried and convicted of crimes.

On Saturday, the US government condemned the sentencing of Alan Gross, 61.

'We deplore this ruling. Alan Gross is a dedicated international development worker who has devoted his life to helping people in more than 50 countries,' said Philip Crowley, spokesman for the US State Department.

'He was in Cuba to help the Cuban people connect with the rest of the world.'

Crowley called for Gross's immediate and unconditional release and an end to 'the long ordeal that began well over a year ago.'

The court found that Gross, an employee of a firm working for the US State Department, had handed out satellite telecommunications equipment in defiance of laws on the Caribbean island.

The US government has insisted Gross was not a spy, but was involved in distributing equipment and access to the internet for Jewish groups in Cuba.

The Alan Gross case is a serious obstacle to dialogue between the two countries, the US has said.

Source: /www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1625636.php/