Exclusive: Jewish group visits Alan Gross in Cuban jail
Posted by Portia Siegelbaum
HAVANA - American contractor Alan Gross, serving a 15-year sentence for
sedition, was allowed a visit Monday morning by leaders of Cuba's Jewish
community.
President Adela Dworin of the Jewish Community of Cuba says they
delivered traditional Passover food to a "visibly emotional" Gross, who
Dworin describes as being in "a good physical state."
In an e-mail to CBS News, Dworin said Cuban authorities had authorized
the "humanitarian visit" that lasted 30 minutes. She was accompanied by
the Community's vice-president David Prinstein.
The visit "took place in a cordial atmosphere during which Mr. Gross
expressed interest in Jewish activities in Cuba," wrote Dworin.
Gross was arrested in December 2009 and sentenced following a two-day
trial last month for smuggling in illegal Internet equipment that could
be used by government opponents to escape official controls and promote
regime change.
Gross's U.S. lawyer has filed an appeal with Cuba's Supreme Court that
is pending consideration by the judges. His wife, Judy Gross, who
attended his trial, has pleaded for his release on humanitarian grounds.
The U.S. Government insists he was only working to improve internet
access for the island's Jewish community but that has been denied by
Dworin and other local Jewish activists.
Gross was employed by the Bethesda-based Development Alternatives Inc.,
which received a $4.5 million contract for the U.S. Agency for
International Development to distribute satellite equipment - some of it
illegal in Cuba - as part of Washington's long term efforts to promote
democracy in a Castro-free Cuba.
The U.S. State Department has declared Gross' imprisonment a major
obstacle to any improvement in bilateral relations.
No comments:
Post a Comment