WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — The United States Department of State says the Donald Trump administration is “gravely concerned” about the physical health of Cuban democratic activist Tomas Nunez Magdariaga.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Nunez Magdariaga has been on a hunger strike for more than 50 days “in protest against his wrongful imprisonment”.

“We understand his health is in a critical state, and that the authorities have denied his family the opportunity to see him,” Nauert said.

She claimed that Cuban authorities arrested Nunez, a member of Cuba’s largest opposition group, the Patriotic Union of Cuba, “on false charges and convicted him in a sham trial, during which they denied him the opportunity to present witnesses in his favour”.

Nauert said Cuban democracy and human rights activists “have long experienced and denounced the Cuban government’s use of arbitrary detention on spurious charges as a tool of repression”

“Mr Nunez’s condition is cruel confirmation of these wrongful practices, and serves as a dark reminder that there is no due process for those who criticize the Cuban government,” she said.

“The United States condemns these practices in the strongest terms, and calls on the Cuban government to release Nunez, whose life hangs in the balance, and all political prisoners in Cuba,” Nauert added.