• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 08 / 05 / 2011

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By Shasta Darlington, CNN. August 5, 2011 -- Updated 1648 GMT (0048 HKT) Havana, Cuba(CNN) -- Cuba's highest court upheld the 15-year sentence imposed on American contractor Alan Gross for trying to set up illegal Internet connections on the island, Cuba's state media reported on Friday.

Gross, 62, was jailed in December 2009, when he was working as a subcontractor on a USAID project aimed at spreading democracy and deemed illegal by Cuban authorities.

"The Supreme Court ratifies the sentence against U.S. citizen Alan Phillip Gross," state-run website Cubadebate said. (www.cubadebate.cu)

The Cuban government accuses Gross of smuggling satellite equipment into the country to set up an Internet network for dissidents "to promote destabilizing activities and subvert constitutional order."

Gross says he was trying to help connect the Jewish community to the world wide web and was not a threat to the government.

The appeals trial was held last month, although the verdict was only announced on Friday. It was Gross's last legal recourse.

Gross¹s lawyer said his family was "heartbroken" by the decision.

"Alan and the entire Gross family have paid an enormous personal price in the long-standing political feud between Cuba and the United States," Peter J. Kahn said in a written statement.

"Now, more than ever, we call upon the two countries to resolve their dispute over Alan¹s activities diplomatically, and request that President Raúl Castro release Alan immediately on humanitarian grounds."

The case plunged U.S.-Cuba relations to a new low after signs of thawing when President Barack Obama took office. The State Department has said no progress will be made until Gross is released.

Former President Jimmy Carter visited Cuba earlier this year and tried to secure the aid worker's release on humanitarian grounds, arguing that Gross's mother and daughter are battling cancer. But he went home empty-handed.

U.S. officials say they hope the Cuban government will consider releasing Gross early now that the courts have had their say.


Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/08/05/cuba.contractor/index.h...