HAVANA, Oct 30 (Reuters) - A U.S. citizen facing trial on charges he planned armed action against Cuba has been moved from a jail outside Havana to state security headquarters in the city, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.
Spokesman Alejandro Gonzalez, replying to a question at a weekly news briefing, said Walter Van Der Veer had been moved from La Condesa, a jail for foreigners, to Villa Marista.
Gonzalez did not say when Van Der Veer was moved. He said he did not know the reason for shifting the defendant.
Van Der Veer was arrested last August and his trial had been due to start Oct. 3.
But the trial but was postponed at the last moment, apparently to give time for his U.S. lawyer to make arrangements to come to Cuba to attend the trial as an observer. Authorities have not said when it will now take place.
In preliminary conclusions presented to the court ahead of the trial, the prosecution has called for the death penalty for Van Der Veer, a 46-year-old Florida resident, on the charge of "promoting armed action against Cuba.''
The conclusions made clear that Van Der Veer did not actually commit any violent act. But he is charged with smuggling in U.S. military gear such as uniforms and hats, trying unsuccessfully to obtain firearms, and throwing subversive leaflets out of car windows in Havana.
00:46 10-31-97