Christian influencer and her mother found guilty

A 21-year-old Christian influencer and her mother were declared guilty of violating ‘the personal and family privacy’ of a government official after recording a Department of State Security (DSE) agent in civilian clothes serve a summons at their home in March. At least two religious leaders were detained by security officers in Havana in the hours before the trial which took place on 1 October

Zamira Marrero Morgado, president of the People’s Municipal Tribunal of Havana del Este, sentenced Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente, known online as Anna Bensi, and her mother Caridad Silvente Laffita to two years of house arrest. DSE agent Yoel Leodán Rabaza Ramos had demanded a video apology from Ms Benítez Silvente and the agent’s lawyer had recommended two years in prison for Ms Benítez Silvente and two years under house arrest for Ms Silvente Laffita.

Pastor Rolando Pérez Lora, who attempted to accompany the two women to the trial with his wife, was intercepted by a DSE agent wearing a helmet and civilian clothes helmet and two police officers who pushed him to the ground before handcuffing him and forcing him into a patrol car. David Espinosa, a youth pastor associated with the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba (CBCO), whose governing board had published a statement of support for the two women on 30 September, and his wife were also detained on the morning of the trial. All were released after the court proceedings had concluded. A number of independent journalists also reported that they were prevented from leaving their homes.

Alongside the CBCO, three of the other largest registered Protestant denominations in Cuba also published statements expressing solidarity with Ms Benítez Silvente and Ms Silvente Laffita on 30 September. On the morning of the trial, crowds gathered in a demonstration of support for the two women as they arrived at the municipal tribunal in Cojímar. Between 10am when proceedings were due to begin and 2pm when the two women exited the building, the crowd kept vigil, chanting, singing and praying in a demonstration of solidarity.

According to Ms Benítez Silvente, witnesses at the trial testified that the DSE agent ‘felt depressed’ after the video of him serving the summons was circulated on social media. ‘When the judge asked if I was in agreement with the sentence, I said that I wasn’t even in agreement that I should be here,’ Ms Benítez Silvente said upon leaving the municipal tribunal. ‘In my view this was unjust. The sentence was unjust, the whole trial was unjust.’

CSW’s Director of Advocacy and Americas Team Leader Anna Lee Stangl said: ‘The decision of the Cuban authorities to proceed with criminal proceedings against Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente and Caridad Silvente Laffita because a State Security agent said that the circulation on social media of his actions, carried out on behalf of the state and aimed at intimidating and silencing these two women, made him feel bad, is a travesty. That they should be found guilty, let alone sentenced to two years under house arrest, is a gross miscarriage of justice. The detentions of Pastor David Espinosa and his wife, and of Pastor Rolando Pérez Lora adds further injury to these unjust procedures. We call on the Cuban government to heed the call of the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba and the other religious groups and individuals who have denounced this abuse of the justice system and to void the guilty verdict and remove all restrictions on Anna Bensi and her mother.’