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So who is telling the truth ?
Here is the NY Times:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> “Mr. Gross did misrepresent himself when he entered the country on a tourist visa and did bring in communications equipment without a license. But a 15-year sentence for those violations is absurd and inhumane”.</div></div>
Here is Saul Landau from ZNet:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">”Imagine the 60-year old American posing as a tourist while distributing laptops, cell phones and forbidden satellite phones to Cubans. Gross claimed he intended only to help the Cuban Jewish community upgrade its communication technology. Gross knew Cuba does not allow satellite phones. A sign at the airport announces this. Satellite phones prevent tapping and could be used for sending coded messages on several frequencies. Their signals will usually bypass local telecoms systems. Oh, these phones can also call in coordinates for air strikes.
How did he acquire his merchandise? Could Cuban customs, which x-rays all incoming baggage, have missed these hi-tech phones in his suitcase? Not likely. Did Gross pick them up at the US Interest Section?
In addition, the Cuban state phone company holds a monopoly and doesn’t allow competition. But if Gross wanted Jews to communicate to relatives abroad why not distribute phone cards in hard currency or Cuban-made cell phones with a prepaid long distance options?</div></div>
Two US Senators say Raul Castro told them during a visit earlier this year that Gross was "not a spy". (Leahy didn't say what Raul said Gross was).
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">” Mr. (Patrick) Leahy spoke extensively to The Associated Press in Havana. He said Mr. Gross, who was imprisoned two years ago for bringing satellite and other communications equipment onto the island, was in good spirits but is concerned about the toll his imprisonment is taking on his health. Mr. Gross was sentenced to 15 years while serving on a democracy-building project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was convicted of crimes against the state, not espionage. Mr. Leahy told The A.P. that Mr. Castro agreed Mr. Gross “was no spy.”</div></div>
Here is the NY Times:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> “Mr. Gross did misrepresent himself when he entered the country on a tourist visa and did bring in communications equipment without a license. But a 15-year sentence for those violations is absurd and inhumane”.</div></div>
Here is Saul Landau from ZNet:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">”Imagine the 60-year old American posing as a tourist while distributing laptops, cell phones and forbidden satellite phones to Cubans. Gross claimed he intended only to help the Cuban Jewish community upgrade its communication technology. Gross knew Cuba does not allow satellite phones. A sign at the airport announces this. Satellite phones prevent tapping and could be used for sending coded messages on several frequencies. Their signals will usually bypass local telecoms systems. Oh, these phones can also call in coordinates for air strikes.
How did he acquire his merchandise? Could Cuban customs, which x-rays all incoming baggage, have missed these hi-tech phones in his suitcase? Not likely. Did Gross pick them up at the US Interest Section?
In addition, the Cuban state phone company holds a monopoly and doesn’t allow competition. But if Gross wanted Jews to communicate to relatives abroad why not distribute phone cards in hard currency or Cuban-made cell phones with a prepaid long distance options?</div></div>
Two US Senators say Raul Castro told them during a visit earlier this year that Gross was "not a spy". (Leahy didn't say what Raul said Gross was).
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">” Mr. (Patrick) Leahy spoke extensively to The Associated Press in Havana. He said Mr. Gross, who was imprisoned two years ago for bringing satellite and other communications equipment onto the island, was in good spirits but is concerned about the toll his imprisonment is taking on his health. Mr. Gross was sentenced to 15 years while serving on a democracy-building project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was convicted of crimes against the state, not espionage. Mr. Leahy told The A.P. that Mr. Castro agreed Mr. Gross “was no spy.”</div></div>