Authorities postpone the habeas corpus hearing, which was supposed to be held this Friday.
14ymedio, Madrid, September 25, 2026 – Independent journalist Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba and vice president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) in the region, entered Kilo 7 prison in Camagüey this Thursday. The information, confirmed by him personally in a call to his partner, journalist Alejandra García, contradicts the measure issued during the investigation, which indicated that he would be transferred to Cerámica prison, in the same province.
The alert began Thursday morning, when the journalist’s lawyer reported that Constantín had been transferred from Villa María Luisa, the State Security operations and interrogation headquarters in the Garrido neighborhood of Camagüey, without the family’s knowledge. The news spread on the assumption that the journalist had been taken to the place stated in the official record.
The news spread on the assumption that the journalist had been taken to the place stated in the official record
Constantín, who was subject to a precautionary measure of preventive detention amid an investigation for “disobedience,” had told those close to him last Tuesday that there were rumors that he would be transferred. However, in the end, it was other prisoners who left the facility. On Wednesday, when his family went to visit him, they received no notice of the transfer, which ultimately took place unexpectedly on Thursday.
La Hora de Cuba has denounced the accumulation of illegalities, since the lack of news was followed by false information, given that the precautionary measure indicated that the preventive detention was to be served in Cerámica. Added to all this is the postponement of the habeas corpus hearing filed Monday, which was supposed to take place this Friday.
The Provincial Popular Court, where Constantín’s family went to inquire about the situation, indicated that although the hearing was scheduled for September 25, “due to work changes” in the country, “it is perhaps postponed until Monday,” although, the publication adds, “most likely it will be next Tuesday the 29th.”
The family has denounced a violation of the Criminal Procedure Law, which establishes that the court has 72 hours from the time it admits the habeas corpus to hold the hearing. “A ruling cannot contradict what the procedural law says; that violates the law of a legal process of the hierarchy,” said law graduate Luis Orlando Bermúdez.
However, the subsequent article specifies that this must be complied with “unless there are justified causes that prevent it,” which would allow for a legal loophole on which to rely. Bermúdez, in any case, considers that the cause is not justified. “I think that if there is a habeas corpus there should be a judge, during the rotation due to the change of work. It cannot be that my procedural guarantees are violated because you have a change of work; that is crazy. You cannot arrange for there to be a change of work on Friday when there is a labor code that says Friday is a work day,” he maintains.
Henry Constantín is accused of a crime of disobedience for failing to appear for a summons issued for last September 9
Henry Constantín is accused of a crime of disobedience for failing to appear for a summons issued for last September 9 at the Directorate of Identification, Immigration and Foreigners, in the Vista Hermosa neighborhood. Shortly afterward, on the 16th, the journalist received another communication instructing him to appear at the Second Unit of the Revolutionary National Police, located on Carretera Central, where he was arrested, supposedly, for the events that occurred the previous week.
Since then, his lawyer has complained about the misinformation that obstructs his right to a defense, beginning with the lack of access to the case file, without which she cannot appeal any of the measures adopted.
Last Wednesday, during a visit of about 20 minutes, Constantín assured his partner that he is facing his current situation with determination. “I am calm and I remain firm,” he said.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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