ADL Calls on Cuba to Free American Contractor

The Anti-Defamation League has called on the government of Cuba to release American Alan Gross, saying the U.S. contractor's health is failing and that he was falsely accused two years ago when he was arrested.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

We call on the Cuban Government to release Mr. Gross immediately on humanitarian grounds and as a gesture of good will to the American people, as he has been in prison for two long years. We also ask those countries with strong diplomatic ties with Cuba to urge the regime to release him, and return him to his family and friends in the U.S."

Gross was a contractor working for the Agency for International Development and was an active member of the Jewish community in Maryland when Cuban officials arrested him on Dec. 3 and accused him of subversive acts against the state.

Gross has denied the accusations.