Cuban artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, shown in 2021, was removed from prison in Cuba two days before completing a five-year sentence. His whereabouts are unknown. File Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA
July 14 (UPI) -- A Cuban court has 72 hours to respond to a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of artist and dissident Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, whose whereabouts have not been disclosed since he was removed from prison two days before completing a five-year sentence, legal aid organization Cubalex said.
Otero Alcántara served as general coordinator of the San Isidro Movement, a collective of artists and activists that used art to challenge state censorship and defend freedom of expression in Cuba, according to Amnesty International.
He was arrested July 11, 2021, while attempting to join the anti-government protests that spread across dozens of cities that day -- the largest demonstrations on the island in decades.
In 2022, a Cuban court sentenced him to five years in prison on charges of public disorder, contempt and insulting national symbols, according to Amnesty International.
