The sister of Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente, known as Anna Bensi, reported this Thursday that only one defense witness was allowed to enter the courtroom where the young activist and her mother, Caridad Silvente, were being tried in Cojímar, Havana.
Elmis Rivero Silvente, a U.S. citizen and sister of Anna Bensi, reported to Martí Noticias that three witnesses were expected to accompany the accused, but two of them—Rolando, known as the "Herald of Christ," and the Christian activist David Espinosa—were detained before they could enter the People's Municipal Court of East Havana.
"A single witness only, the pastor, was able to enter with them because supposedly there were three witnesses who could enter with them," declared Elmis Rivero.
The imbalance in the admission of evidence was another point raised. While Anna Bensi's defense only had one psychologist accepted as a witness, the prosecution presented seven witnesses, all of whom were accepted.
"However, I believe that the Prosecutor's Office did accept all the witnesses. Yes, the seven witnesses. They accepted his. None from hers. Only the psychologist, that's all," said Elmis Rivero.
The process was presided over by Judge Zamira Marrero Morgado, pointed out by activists for having been part of tribunals in cases related to 11J. The accusation was made under Article 393 of the Cuban Penal Code, concerning "acts against personal and family privacy," with penalties ranging from two to five years in prison.
The trial concluded with a sentence of two years of restricted freedom for both. The written ruling detailing the full reasoning was pending at the close of the day.
Before entering the court, Anna Bensi stated that she did not expect a fair trial and called for a free Cuba, according to Infobae.
For Elmis Rivero, the regime's objective is clear: to silence his sister. He also pointed out that the date of the trial was not a coincidence.
"To silence her, more than anything. To silence her. Everything. And just like they chose today's date, the first of October, what’s going on in Washington, they took advantage of that, to silence her just as they have told her," he stated.
On that same day, Cubans in exile gathered in Washington D.C. at Pershing Park under the slogan “Do it Trump, do it,” called by Alexander Otaola to demand actions against the Cuban government, with attendees coming from Miami, Michigan, and Canadian cities.
The case originated in March 2026, when Anna Bensi and her mother recorded and published on social media the visit of a MININT agent to their home with a summons from State Security. Since the 25th of that month, both had been under house arrest and prohibited from leaving the country.
The organization Cubalex stated that recording the police is not a crime but a citizen's right, in a direct critique of the criminal process that concluded this Thursday with the sentencing of the two women.
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