The Provincial People's Court of Havana let the legal deadline of 72 hours pass this Thursday without ruling on the writ of habeas corpus filed on behalf of the artist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who remains in state custody despite having fully served his sentence.
Instead of issuing a resolution, the court communicated that the case is still "pending," reported the human rights organization Cubalex, which filed the appeal on July 13.
For the organization, the delay is not due to an administrative issue, but rather a deliberate decision.
"The court is deliberately prolonging legal timelines in order to force the release of Luis Manuel, contingent upon his immediate and definitive departure from the country," Cubalex reported in an alert issued this Thursday.
According to the organization, the authorities aim to buy time so that if Otero Alcántara leaves Cuba before a judicial ruling is made, the appeal can be dismissed on the grounds that the deprivation of liberty ended due to an alleged "voluntary decision" by the affected individual himself.
He remains detained after completing his sentence
Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara completed his five-year prison sentence on July 9, but he never regained his freedom.
Two days earlier, on July 7, State Security agents removed him from the maximum security prison in Guanajay, in Artemisa, without informing his family about his destination or the reasons for the transfer.
Since then, he has remained disconnected under state custody, a situation that Cubalex and Amnesty International describe as enforced disappearance.
The only known contact occurred on July 9 itself, when activist Anamely Ramos was able to speak briefly with him through a phone controlled by the State Security. During that conversation, Otero Alcántara confirmed that he was still in detention and recounted that the agents were questioning him about his humanitarian parole application to travel to the United States.
Cubalex holds that keeping him in custody after he has completed his sentence "lacks legal grounds" and constitutes an arbitrary detention that violates the Constitution, the Penal Code, and the current Law on Penal Execution in Cuba.
Obstacles to presenting the appeal
The organization also denounced that the process for submitting the habeas corpus was marked by multiple obstacles.
On July 10, several courts remained closed despite being a working day, and an activist who attempted to submit the resource was detained and remained arrested for two days.
Subsequently, the documents sent via email to official addresses were blocked or ignored, until the appeal could finally be submitted on July 13 to the Provincial Court of Havana.
Cubalex asserts that the closure of the courts has also prevented the filing of complaints with the People's Supreme Court, thus limiting the procedural guarantees provided by Cuban legislation.
The UN also demands answers
This is not the first time that Cuban justice has refused to intervene in favor of the artist. A first habeas corpus was dismissed by the Provincial Court of Artemisa on March 23, a decision that the Supreme People's Court confirmed on April 7, while also rejecting the granting of prison benefits or a pardon.
Meanwhile, the case has already reached the international stage. The UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances activated Urgent Action 2357/2026 on July 9, through which it requested the Cuban state to report on the whereabouts and situation of Otero Alcántara before July 25.
Cubalex concluded its complaint by demanding that the authorities respect due process and proceed with the immediate release of the artist, as it believes there is no longer any legal basis to keep him in custody.
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