His defense filed a habeas corpus petition for the journalist, who has been detained for five days, and denounces the lack of access to the case file.
14ymedio, Madrid, September 22, 2026 – Independent journalist Henry Constantín, director of La Hora de Cuba and vice president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) in the region, remains detained at Villa María Luisa, the State Security headquarters for operations and interrogations in Camagüey. According to the investigator in the case, preventive detention has already been ordered for him. His defense, which has denounced not having access to the case file, filed a habeas corpus petition this Monday to guarantee the reporter’s rights after he had been detained for five days.
Constantín’s lawyer went this Monday to Villa María Luisa, where she was able to speak with the investigator in the case, whom she identifies as Juan Pablo. He told her that preventive detention had already been approved and that the case file was with the Prosecutor’s Office. The lawyer went there and requested access to the documentation—as provided for by law—in order to learn the details of the charges Constantín is facing and provide him with a legitimate defense, including a possible appeal or legal challenge. However, she “found no officials available,” which prevented her from learning the accusation.
It is known only that Constantín is accused of an alleged offense of disobedience for failing to attend a summons issued for September 9 at the Identification, Immigration and Foreigners Directorate, 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 the Carretera Central, where he was arrested, supposedly, for the events that occurred the previous week.
It is known only that Constantín is accused of an alleged offense of disobedience for failing to attend a summons issued for September 9
Constantín’s defense argues in the habeas corpus petition that the Criminal Procedure Law provides only for a “fine of up to one hundred installments” for failing to attend a summons without justified cause, while detention would be imposed in the event of failing to appear for a second summons. Since the journalist did appear on that occasion, the lawyer argues that the offense of disobedience with which he is charged is not valid. Nevertheless, the impossibility of viewing the case file leaves the lawyer in the dark.
“Administrative obstacles have been repeated during the five days he has remained detained,” La Hora de Cuba denounced when reporting what happened. “On September 17, after a criminal defense lawyer was hired, she sent a colleague to Villa María Luisa, in the Garrido neighborhood, at around 2:30 p.m. to inquire about Henry’s situation, but he was told that investigator Juan Pablo had already left because he lives in Nuevitas, a different municipality,” they stated.
The statement, posted on its Facebook page, highlights the words of IAPA President Pierre Manigault, who denounced days ago that this is “a new and serious episode of harassment against the independent press.” “The summonses, detentions, surveillance and house arrests against Constantín are part of a pattern of pressure aimed at obstructing his journalistic work,” Martha Ramos, chair of that organization’s Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information for Cuba, also said.
La Hora de Cuba has insisted on the importance of any judicial process being “transparent and without obstacles that block access to fundamental rights. The demand for the release of our director and an end to the persecution of those who practice independent journalism remains.”
This detention has already surpassed in length the longest detention the journalist had previously experienced in June 2025, when he spent four days, also at Villa María Luisa, after accompanying journalist Iris Mariño to a summons. On that occasion, he was accused of an offense of “contempt” over a publication about the actions of a State Security agent. The case was never brought to trial.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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