Trial of U.S. Aid Worker in Cuba Ends

The trial is over for a U.S. aid worker who was arrested in December 2009 after he set up illegal Internet connections in Cuba, but a verdict has yet to be handed down. Gross was working as a contractor for a U.S. government-funded program which aimed to promote democracy in the communist state. Part of his work was focused on setting up Internet and satellite services in Havana's Jewish communities. Cuba's communist authorities disapproved of Gross' intermediary activity, which is outlawed and considered an infringement on the independence and territorial integrity of the state. Prosecutors are hoping to sentence Gross to 20 years in prison, though he can appeal. On Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded his release, saying, "He's been unjustly jailed for far too long."