MIAMI, United States. – Independent journalist Henry Constantín, director of the digital medium Cuba Time and regional vice president for Cuba of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), has an oral hearing scheduled for this Thursday, December 26, at 9:00 am at the Provincial Court of Havana.
The diligence responds to the appeal of habeas corpus presented last Monday for his arrest, described as “illegal and arbitrary” by the very medium he directs.
Constantín remains in the El Vivac detention center, in Arroyo Naranjo, after being denied transfer to Camagüey this Wednesday, December 25. “The bus in charge of transferring the detainees to the province left on Wednesday morning, without including them in the trip,” the journalist reported in a phone call to Cuba Time.
Detained since December 19, State Security agents allege that Constantín violated a legal control that weighs on him in the province of Camagüey and that supposedly prohibits him from remaining in the capital.
Although the authorities had indicated that they would return him to his province of residence as soon as there was fuel, the transfer has not taken place and the detention continues without clear definitions.
Constantine assured on Monday, December 23, that he dedicated his Christmas “to all the political prisoners of Cuba,” while thanking the solidarity expressed on social networks. The IAPA, for its part, demanded the immediate release of its vice president and the end of the persecution against independent journalists on the island.
Last Monday, Cuba Time filed an appeal before the Provincial Court of Havana habeas corpus.
The transit prison known as El Vivac is characterized by its secrecy, and not even the media’s collaborators have been given information about the conditions in which the journalist is found.
Cuba Time reiterated this Wednesday its demand for the immediate release of Henry Constantin and the cessation of harassment against independent journalists, who continue to denounce mobility restrictions and arbitrary arrests in different parts of the country.
