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American faces trial in Cuba on spy charges
AFP - Friday, March 4
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American faces trial in Cuba on spy charges
HAVANA (AFP) - – American Alan Gross goes on trial Friday on charges of espionage, marking a new low in steadily deteriorating US-Cuban relations despite early hopes for improvement under US President Barack Obama.
Cuban prosecutors announced in early February that it would seek 20 years in prison for the 61-year-old businessman, who was arrested in December 2009 while working in Cuba as a State Department contractor.
His trial for "acts against the independence and territorial integrity of the state" is expected to last several days, and in Havana's diplomatic circles there is little doubt that the court will accede to the prosecution's demands.
US consular authorities, relatives of the accused and his family's lawyers are expected to be present during the court sessions, Cuban officials said in announcing the trial date.
"We hope he receives a fair trial and is allowed to come home. What he did is not a crime," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said at the time.
A spokesman for the US Interests Section in Havana told AFP that the case would be heard in "complete privacy."
How long it would take the court to reach a decision in the case was unpredictable, Cuban legal experts said.
Gross was arrested December 3, 2009 and accused of distributing "sophisticated communication media" to opponents of the country's 52-year-old communist regime.
According to Washington, Gross was employed by a State Department contractor, Development Alternatives, that was providing computers and cellphones to Cuba's Jewish community to help it communicate with the outside world.
The arrest brought an immediate halt to an easing in tension between Cuba and the United States that followed Obama's election.
Officially, the two countries have not had diplomatic relations since 1961, but they have maintained "interest sections" in their respective capitals to keep the lines open for dialogue.
Since Obama's election, his administration has lifted multiple restrictions imposed by his predecessor, George W. Bush, easing travel to Cuba by US citizens and transfers of money from US-based Cubans to their families on the island.
In 2009, Cuba and the United States also resumed talks on immigration that had been suspended since 2003.
But although the fourth round of talks was held in January in Havana, Washington has made clear that no improvement in relations is possible until Gross is released.
Cuba for its part has insistently demanded the release of five Cubans imprisoned in the United States since 1998 when they were sentenced to long prison terms for espionage. Cuban authorities regard the five as "anti-terrorist heroes."
Cuban authorities allowed a State Department delegation to visit Gross on January 13. His wife Judy also was allowed to visit him in July 2010.
A senior State Department official said at the time that if Gross were convicted, Washington hoped that he would be allowed to serve his sentence in his own country.
But US officials have rejected any deal to trade Gross for the five Cuban agents.
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