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Clinton Calls for Release of American on Trial in Cuba

   VOA News  March 04, 2011
   Journalists  work  in  front  of  the  courthouse  where US government
   contractor  Alan  Gross,  accused  of  "acts against the integrity and
   independence" of Cuba, attends a trial in Havana, Cuba, March 4, 2011

Photo: AP

   Journalists  work  in  front  of  the  courthouse  where US government
   contractor  Alan  Gross,  accused  of  "acts against the integrity and
   independence" of Cuba, attends a trial in Havana, Cuba, March 4, 2011

   The United States has called on Cuba to release an American contractor
   who  is  going  on  trial in Havana for allegedly supplying dissidents
   with communications equipment.
   Speaking  to reporters Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
   said  the Cuban government should release Alan Gross "unconditionally"
   and allow him to return to his family.
   Gross,  who  has  been  jailed for more than a year, is going on trial
   Friday  in  Havana  to face the charge that he violated the "integrity
   and independence of Cuba."
   Cuban  authorities  accuse  Gross of bringing communications equipment
   into  the country to supply Cuban dissident groups.  He could face 20
   years in prison if convicted.
   The  trial  is expected to last only a day or two and is closed to the
   media.
   Gross  was  working  for  a  private  firm,  Development  Alternatives
   International,   contracted  by  the  U.S.  Agency  for  International
   Development (USAID).
   The  firm  says  Gross  was  working  on  a  project to bring Internet
   communication  equipment  to members of Cuba's small Jewish community,
   and  denies  he  was  working with dissidents.  The company has since
   ceased its activities in Cuba.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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