Cuba convicts Christian content creator and her mother for filming state security agent 

Cuba recently convicted a Christian content creator and her mother for filming a state security agent at their home and posting the video online.

The East Havana court gave Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente, 21, and her mother, Caridad Silvente, two years of restricted freedom each on Oct. 1. Benítez uses the name Anna Bensi on social media, where she speaks against the country’s communist government.

The sentence lets the women avoid prison time but the court still controls where they can go. They need permission to move or travel to another municipality or province. They also have to appear when summoned by the court.

Bensi defended her right to speak against the government before entering the courthouse.

“We do not agree with our country’s political system; that is not a crime,” she said, the Miami Herald reported.

The case deals with a March 10 visit to the family’s home in Alamar, a district in Havana. A plainclothes officer arrived to give a state security summons to Silvente.

The women recorded the visit and shared the video online. They said they filmed the officer because they feared for their safety.

The officer later filed a complaint claiming they violated his privacy. Authorities dropped the case before reopening it in July, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported.

Cuba’s Interior Ministry defended the use of privacy laws in a statement that didn’t name the women’s case. It said recording someone and publishing their image without consent are different acts, EFE reported.

Critics say the government used the complaint to punish the women for speaking out.

“Cuban authorities should drop all charges against Anna Sofía Benítez and Caridad Silvente and stop using privacy laws to silence criticism,” said José Zamora, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ regional director for the Americas.

Four Protestant denominations supported the women before the trial. One was the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba. It said both women belong to its church.

“Due to a basic sense of justice we cannot, do not want to and will not leave them on their own,” the church said, according to the Christian Post.

Police also arrested Christians who tried to accompany the women to court.

Officers detained evangelical pastor Rolando Pérez Lora on his way to the trial. They also detained Baptist youth pastor David Espinosa and his wife. Police released them after the trial.

At the courthouse, supporters sang and prayed outside. Two independent journalists reportedly said state security agents prevented them from leaving their homes to cover the trial.

Bensi has used the Bible to challenge the government. A December video cited Isaiah’s warning against unjust laws that deny the poor justice, religious freedom group CSW reported.

The group documented 505 cases of religious freedom violations in Cuba in 2025.

The women’s lawyer, Roberto Ortega, told EFE they can appeal. However, they have not yet received a written ruling, even after the judge sentenced them.

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Anna Bensi)