The Cuban content creator Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente, known as Anna Bensi, stated that she does not intend to remain silent or abandon her posts on social media, just days before the trial she will face alongside her mother, Caridad Silvente, scheduled for October 1st, as she declared in an interview with CubaNet.
The date was communicated to her lawyer by the court this Monday, after the hearing initially scheduled for September 17 was postponed, according to information published this Monday. Mother and daughter remain under house arrest and are prohibited from leaving the country.
During her conversation with independent journalist Camila Acosta, Bensi explained how they are handling the process, what the police officer who filed the complaint claims, and why he insists that he would publish the video that initiated the case again.
Both are accused of “acts against personal and family privacy” after recording and sharing on social media the visit of two plainclothes police officers who came to their apartment to deliver a summons from State Security addressed to Silvente.
"They are accusing us of posting the video on social media where you can see those two plainclothes police officers who went to my apartment carrying a summons from State Security in my mom's name," Bensi explained.
The process dates back to March 10, when the MININT non-commissioned officer Yoel Leodán Rabaza Ramos went to the apartment of Anna Bensi and her mother to deliver a summons from State Security.
The visit was recorded and shared on social media, a decision that both have explained as a protective measure.
On March 25, mother and daughter were charged and placed under house arrest. The accusation is based on Article 393 of the Penal Code, concerning alleged "acts against personal and family privacy."
The case was filed on April 13 after the defense attorney, Roberto Ortega Ortiz, argued that this type of crime could only be prosecuted through a direct complaint from the person who considered themselves offended and not based on a police report.
However, the case was reopened in July. Rabaza Ramos then filed a direct complaint, and the court notified Bensi and her mother that the process had been reactivated.
Subsequently, a court confirmed that both would be taken to trial for the publication of the video.
According to Bensi, the police officer claims he felt offended by the comments made following the video's release.
"He says he feels offended by all the comments the post received," the young woman stated, insisting that she and her mother never intended to "humiliate or shame him."
Bensi assured that the agent intends for both of them to record and publish a public apology video. The plaintiff's lawyer added that he is requesting two years of freedom restriction for each of them.
The young woman stated that she does not hold a grudge against the police officer and said that she would even be willing to forgive him.
"I have no anger towards him, no resentment, no hatred, none of that," she stated. However, she expressed her belief that the agent is continuing the process under pressure from State Security.
The content creator also stated that the process aims to keep them under control due to the opinions they express publicly.
Three days before the scheduled date for the trial, Bensi asserted that he would act in the same way despite now being aware of the legal consequences.
"If I could go back, I would also post the video. I would record an officer from State Security, from the Police, arriving at your home," he noted.
As she explained, documenting and making those actions public serves as a form of protection for her. "I promised myself that I would expose any kind of repression they directed against me, against my mother, or against anyone in my close circle," she stated.
Bensi also acknowledged that she faces the legal process with little expectation of obtaining a favorable ruling. In her opinion, she and her mother are entering the trial in “unequal conditions” and believes that the decision may be predetermined.
Nonetheless, she stated that she will testify to document her version: "It is important for my mom and me to leave our statement, even if they don't take it into account."
The young woman also stated that she has received offers to leave Cuba and even assistance to pursue her professional career, proposals she said she is not willing to accept if they come from the authorities.
Asked about the possibility of moderating or abandoning her posts in light of the risks she claims to face, she responded: "Why should I silence myself? [...] Staying silent is not a position I want to take. Honestly, for now, that’s how I feel. I am not going to silence myself."
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