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01/17/13 - CBS Local - Judge Asked To Toss Out $60M Lawsuit Filed By Md. Man Jailed In Cuba

WASHINGTON (AP) - A Maryland-based company and the U.S. government are
asking a judge to dismiss a $60 million lawsuit filed by an American
imprisoned in Cuba that accuses both of failing to adequately prepare him
for work in that country.

Lawyers for Development Alternatives Inc. filed documents in federal court
in Washington on Tuesday asking a judge to dismiss the case brought by
Alan Gross, a subcontractor for the company, and his wife. The lawsuit,
which was filed in November, claims Gross should have been provided with
better information and training and that DAI and the government left him
in the dark about the specific risks of performing the work he was doing
in Cuba.

DAI argued in a response filed Tuesday that federal law bars the lawsuit.
The company also said the lawsuit could undermine efforts to get Gross
released by making the Cuban government less willing to free him.

"DAI is also deeply concerned that the development of the record in this
case over the course of litigation could create significant risks to the
U.S. Government's national security, foreign policy, and human rights
interests," lawyers wrote.

The U.S. government, which had contracted with DAI for the work Gross was
doing, also asked Tuesday that the case be dismissed. Lawyers wrote that
the government cannot be sued in the United States for injuries a person
suffered in a foreign country.

Gross, 63, was arrested in December 2009, while on his fifth trip to Cuba
for DAI. When he was arrested he was working on a project to increase the
availability of Internet access in the country, particularly to the
island's small Jewish community.

The project was being paid for by the U.S. Agency for International
Development, the U.S. government organization that provides economic and
humanitarian assistance worldwide. USAID has been criticized by Cuba for
seeking to promote democratic change on the island, and Cuba says its
programs are an attempt by Washington to undermine the Communist
government. As a result of his work, Cuba sentenced Gross to 15 years in
prison for crimes against the state.

As part of the documents DAI filed Tuesday, it submitted its contract with
Gross and a later revision. The approximately $600,000 contract was signed
in 2009, and a follow-up document contemplates eight trips to Cuba.

The contract and revision talk about three sites where Internet access was
set up and the possibility of three more sites. The contracts also discuss
Gross' efforts to conceal the sites, including his intention to use highly
specialized phone chips, which The Associated Press reported early last
year. The contract also mentions the sensitivity of Gross' work in Cuba,
which Gross also acknowledged in reports after visits, describing his
activities as "very risky business in no uncertain terms."

"Given the nature of the Cuban regime and the political sensitivity of the
USAID program, USAID cannot be held responsible for any injury or
inconvenience suffered by individuals traveling to the island under USAID
funding," the contract says.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


Original Source / Fuente Original:
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/01/17/md-company-u-s-ask-judge-to-toss-60m-lawsuit-filed-by-alan-gross/