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The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme People's Tribunal of Havana rejected on April 7 an appeal submitted by the organization Cubalex in favor of the artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara.
The Supreme Court confirmed that his sentence extends until July 9, 2026, as reported by the organization in an official statement.
The court based its decision on the fact that no sentence reductions for good behavior were applied, thus dismissing the legal arguments that claimed the artist had already served his five-year sentence.
This ruling is the final link in a chain of legal actions initiated by Cubalex.
In March, the organization presented a writ of habeas corpus to the Provincial People's Court of Artemisa, arguing that Otero Alcántara —who has been detained since July 11, 2021 under provisional imprisonment— had already served his sentence, having accumulated four years and seven months of preventive detention along with approximately eight months of time off for good behavior in accordance with Decree-Law 74, which allows for reductions of up to 60 days per year.
The Artemisa Tribunal rejected the habeas corpus on March 23 with arguments that Cubalex deemed legally incompatible: it simultaneously asserted that Otero was in "provisional detention" and "serving a sentence."
"These positions are legally incompatible and demonstrate arbitrariness or negligence," the organization noted.
The case of Otero Alcántara has gained greater importance in the international context. The Trump administration to the Cuban government for the release of political prisoners, while Washington demanded the release of high-profile political prisoners, including Otero Alcántara himself.
Meanwhile, the artivist staged an eight-day hunger strike in the maximum-security prison as a form of protest.
The mass pardon of 2,010 inmates announced on April 2 by the Cuban government did not include high-profile political prisoners, amidst a backdrop where Cuba is recording a historic high of 1,250 political prisoners, according to human rights organizations.
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