The Tribune

CUBAN detainees will await the outcome of resettlement interviews before their habeas corpus application is moved forward.

Mauricio Valdez, Randy Rodriguez, and Pedro Parrado, pictured above, appeared before Supreme Court Justice Carolita Bethel today for a full hearing. (Picture by Kyle Smith, ©The Tribune.)

However, defence attorney Roger Gomez Jr asked for the case to be adjourned until interviews with the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, have been completed.

Director of Public Prosecutions Vinette Graham-Allen agreed to the adjournment, and a date was set for August 21.

If the men are unsuccessful in their bid for relocation to a third country, a full hearing has been set for September 9.

The three migrants are being held at Her Majesty’s Prisons (HMP) and filed a writ of habeas corpus asking the court to release them based on "various allegations of abuse."

A writ of habeas corpus is a legal action that requires a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court.

The principle of habeas corpus ensures that a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention—that is, detention lacking sufficient cause or evidence.

The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to the prisoner's aid.

A writ of habeas corpus is a summons with the force of a court order; it is addressed to the custodian (a prison official for example) and demands that a prisoner be taken before the court, and that the custodian present proof of authority, allowing the court to determine whether the custodian has lawful authority to detain the prisoner.