The Cuban philosopher and activist Alina Bárbara López Hernández publicly responded to the preventive imprisonment imposed on journalist Henry Constantin Ferreiro, director of the independent magazine La Hora de Cuba.
On her Facebook wall, López Hernández attached the document of the habeas corpus appeal filed on behalf of Constantin and wrote: "They keep opening fronts without managing to close any. Huge mistake. State of terror or terror of the State?".
Constantin was arrested on September 16 in Camagüey by a criminal instructor identified as Juan Pablo, on charges of alleged "disobedience." Authorities claim that the journalist did not appear on time for a summons on September 9 at the Directorate of Identification, Immigration, and Foreigners.
Since then, he has remained confined in Villa María Luisa, the headquarters of the State Security in the Garrido neighborhood of Camagüey.
On September 21, lawyer Luis Orlando Bermúdez Basulto filed a habeas corpus petition before the Provincial People's Court of Camagüey, based on Article 96 of the Cuban Constitution and Article 789 of Law 143/2021 of the Criminal Procedure.
On that same day, the instructor Juan Pablo informed the defense that the pretrial detention had already been approved and that the case file would be sent to the Provincial Prosecutor's Office.
The document signed by Bermúdez Basulto is clear: "Since there are no reasonable elements or testimonies from family members or friends to support such an accusation, we believe that the detention is motivated by purely political reasons, as the individual subject to this request is the director of the independent journal La Hora de Cuba."
The defense also asserts that it has not been able to access the case file either in Villa María Luisa or at the Provincial Prosecutor's Office, which prevents them from understanding the basis of the accusation and filing a formal appeal.
The regime has intensified its repressive actions against Constantin this year: in January he was , including 44 hours incommunicado in Havana. In July, the authorities warned him that he would be detained if he attended a reception at the U.S. Embassy.
The Inter-American Press Society (SIP) condemned this latest arrest. Its president, Pierre Manigault, described it as "a new and serious episode of harassment against independent press in Cuba" and demanded the immediate release of the reporter.
The post by López Hernández also has a personal dimension: she herself was detained on September 18 (the fifth time this year), while attempting to carry out her monthly civic protest in the Parque de la Libertad in Matanzas. She was held for nearly five hours.
The activist has been under a house arrest precautionary measure since June 2024 as part of "case 40," facing charges of "assault," with a prosecutor's request for four years in prison.
According to Prisoners Defenders, Cuba had 1,339 political prisoners as of September 10, while Cubalex documented 919 victims of human rights violations just between January and June of this year.
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