Cuba: influencer and mother sentenced to two years for video of plainclothes agent

Cuban influencer Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente, 21, known on social media as Anna Bensi, and her mother Caridad Silvente were both sentenced to two years of restriction of liberty today in Havana for having recorded and disseminated online the video of an agent of the Ministry of the Interior (Minint) in plain clothes. The sentence was pronounced by the municipal court of East Havana. The sentence does not involve prison, but imposes restrictions, including the ban on leaving the country. This was reported by independent Cuban media, including 14ymedio.

The trial, which lasted more than four hours, took place in an atmosphere of strong presence of security forces outside the court, where dozens of people had gathered to express solidarity with the two women. At the end of the hearing, Benítez called the sentence "an injustice".

The case dates back to March 10, when Minint agent Yoel Leodán Rabaza Ramos showed up in plain clothes at the family's home on the outskirts of Havana to deliver a State Security summons. The two women recorded the meeting and published the video on social media. The trial began in July, after the agent was reported for violating his privacy and image.

The Cubalex organization contests the application of the rule, arguing that article 393 of the Cuban Penal Code should not be used when a citizen records a public official during the performance of his duties.

Before the hearing, Benítez had declared to the foreign press: "We are not criminals, we are just expressing through a screen what we think."