American imprisoned in Cuba says goodbye to family

Posted on Monday, 08.04.14

American imprisoned in Cuba says goodbye to family
BY JESSICA GRESKO
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- A lawyer for an American who has spent more than four
years imprisoned in Cuba said Monday that his client cannot take life in
prison much longer and has said his goodbyes to his wife and a daughter.

Alan Gross was arrested in Cuba in 2009 while working covertly in the
Communist-run country to set up Internet access. His attorney, Scott
Gilbert, said in a statement Monday that his client "has withdrawn" and
told him "life in prison is not a life worth living." Gross has
previously said through his lawyer that his 65th birthday, which took
place in May, would be the last one that he "celebrates in Havana, one
way or the other."

Gross said goodbye to his wife and youngest daughter during a recent
visit. Gross, who lived in Maryland before his arrest, had previously
told his two daughters not to come see him in prison.

Gross has stopped exercising and his health is not good, said Gilbert,
who plans to visit his client this week. His hips are failing and he has
lost most of the vision in his right eye. Gross' "emotional
deterioration has been severe," Gilbert said, particularly following the
death in June of his 92-year-old mother.

Gross and his mother talked frequently by phone, and when Gross went on
a nine-day hunger strike in April it was his mother who persuaded him to
end it. Gross had asked the Cuban government to be able to return to the
United States for her funeral, but the request was denied.

Gross' wife, Judy Gross, said in Monday's statement that she has never
seen her husband in such bad shape during the time he has spent in
prison. She wrote that "his decision to say goodbye to us was wrenching."

Gross is also now refusing to see officials from the U.S. Interests
Section in Havana, which Washington maintains instead of an embassy
since the two countries do not have formal diplomatic relations.

At the time Gross was arrested he was working as a subcontractor for the
U.S. government's U.S. Agency for International Development, which
promotes democracy on the island. Cuba considers USAID's programs
illegal attempts by the U.S. to undermine its government, and Gross was
tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Also on Monday, Gross' lawyer released a letter from a group of 300
rabbis to President Barack Obama urging him to take action to secure
Gross' release. Gross, who is Jewish, was working with Cuba's small
Jewish community on Internet access when he was arrested.

Follow Jessica Gresko at http://twitter.com/jessicagresko

Source: WASHINGTON: American imprisoned in Cuba says goodbye to family -
Politics Wires - MiamiHerald.com -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/04/4270670/american-imprisoned-in-cuba-says.html