The People's Municipal Court of Havana del Este found Anna Bensi and her mother, Caridad Silvente, guilty this Thursday, sentencing each to two years of restricted freedom for the crime of "acts against personal and family privacy," after recording and disseminating on social media a meeting with a Ministry of the Interior (MININT) agent.
«They declared my mother and me guilty of the crime we were being accused of, a supposed crime,» Bensi confirmed in a recorded statement at the courthouse in Cojímar, where family, friends, and members of the press were waiting for the outcome of the trial.
The young woman described the verdict as "an injustice."
The ruling was communicated verbally, and mother and daughter will have to wait for the written sentence to understand the grounds and terms of the judicial decision.
Two years of freedom limitation for each one
The process originated on March 10th, when the subordinate officer Yoel Leodán Rabaza Ramos went to the home of both to deliver a summons from State Security.
Mother and daughter recorded the meeting and subsequently shared the images on social media. On March 25, they were charged and placed under house arrest, in addition to receiving a travel ban.
The case was initially archived, but reopened in July following a complaint filed by the agent himself.
According to Bensi, Rabaza Ramos had initially requested “a public apology video to restore his moral integrity”.
The legal representative of the complainant subsequently requested a harsher penalty: two years of imprisonment for Anna Bensi and two years of limited freedom for her mother.
The court did not accept the request for incarceration against the young woman and ultimately imposed the same sanction of two years of limited freedom on both of them.
The process was presided over by Judge Zamira Marrero Morgado, who has been criticized by activists for being part of a court that judged protesters from the July 11, 2021 protests in La Güinera.
Detentions and heavy surveillance during the trial
The day was marked by a large operation by the police and State Security, with detentions, surveillance, and restrictions reported by activists who were trying to reach the court.
The evangelical pastor Rolando Fidel Pérez Lora, known as "Herald of Christ," was detained while attempting to attend the trial. Also, the Christian activist David Espinosa Martínez was arrested, while journalists and other activists reported surveillance and restrictions on leaving their homes.
Despite the operation, Bensi arrived at the court to applause from those who managed to gather at the site.
"We are not criminals," he declared before entering.
The process sparked numerous expressions of solidarity both inside and outside of Cuba. The Western Baptist Convention of Cuba, the religious figures Sor Nadieska Almeida and Father Lester Zayas; the artists Haydée Milanés, Luis Silva, La Diosa, Andy Vázquez, and Claudia Valdés; the influencers Kristoff Kriollo and Claudia Artiles; and the Cuban-American congressmen Carlos Giménez and María Elvira Salazar, spoke out regarding the case.
Salazar described the process as "a desperate act of a dying dictatorship trying to intimidate and silence the Cuban people."
The U.S. Embassy in Cuba also reacted this Thursday with a message of support: "Thinking differently is not a crime."
On its part, the legal advisory organization Cubalex has argued from the beginning of the process that recording the actions of police officers is a legitimate exercise of citizens' rights.
After hearing the verdict, Bensi thanked those who supported her during the trial and said she would now wait for the written judgment. "God is in control," she affirmed.
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