The Criminal Chamber of the Supreme People's Court of Havana (TSP) rejected on April 7 the appeal filed in favor of artivist and political prisoner Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, confirming that his sanction extends until July 9, 2026. The decision is based on the fact that he was not given any reductions in his sanction for good conduct.
This ruling is part of a series of legal actions brought by Cubalex since March of this year. In that month, the organization filed a Habeas Corpus petition before the Provincial People's Court of Artemisa, based on the fact that Otero Alcántara has fully complied with the imposed sanction, so his continued imprisonment constitutes an illegal deprivation of liberty.
The original Habeas Corpus petition argues that the The sanction had already been extinguished, taking into account both the time spent in pretrial detention and the reductions provided for by Cuban legislation.a. The document details that Otero Alcántara has been in prison since July 11, 2021 under a provisional detention measure, a period that must be credited towards the fulfillment of the sentence.
Furthermore, Decree-Law 74, the regulations implementing the Law on Execution, is invoked, which allows for reductions of up to 60 days for each year of the sentence served in cases of good conduct. According to the calculation presented, the time served "as a matter of course" amounted to 4 years and 7 months as of February 2026, to which approximately 8 months of accumulated reduction for good conduct would be added, which would imply the extinction of the sanction.
However, the The Provincial People's Court of Artemisa rejected outright The habeas corpus petition argued that Otero Alcántara was under pretrial detention and, simultaneously, serving a prison sentence. These claims are legally incompatible and demonstrate arbitrary or, at the very least, negligent conduct on the part of the judicial body.
The Court also alleged a lack of jurisdiction to hear the appeal, without offering legal grounds or indicating which authority would be competent to process the case, which left the requesting party defenseless.
In his recent decision, the The Supreme People's Court implicitly acknowledges the impropriety of the initial rejection due to lack of competence, by admitting the processing of the appeal and its appeal. However, it reaffirms the rejection of the Habeas Corpus, considering that the detention is not illegal, thus validating the continued imprisonment of the artivist until the date mentioned above.
Despite the adverse result, andThis process could set a relevant precedent for future legal actions in Cuba. The admission of the appeal by the Supreme Court It opens a path that could be used by other families and people deprived of their liberty for political reasons, consolidating Habeas Corpus as a key legal tool in the defense against arbitrary detentions.