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Cuban content creator sentenced to 2 years of ‘restricted freedom’ for filming agent

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Cuban content creator sentenced to 2 years of ‘restricted freedom’ for filming agent

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Miami, October 3, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Havana court’s Thursday sentencing of influencer and content creator Anna Sofía Benítez, 21, and her mother, Caridad Silvente, to two years of “restricted freedom” after they were found guilty of supposedly violating a Ministry of the Interior (MININT) agent’s privacy.

Outlets reported that the agent was upset that Benítez, known as “Anna Bensi” online, and her mother recorded the him as he delivered a summons in connection with a video Benítez published criticizing the Cuban government. However, the two women said they recorded the agent over security concerns.

The prosecutor initially shelved the case after the agent withdrew the complaint, but the case was reopened in July when he refiled the complaint for reasons that remain unknown, according to local media reports.

“Cuban authorities should drop all charges against Anna Sofía Benítez and Caridad Silvente and stop using privacy laws to silence criticism,” said José Zamora, CPJ’s regional director for the Americas. “Authorities must allow journalists to cover their case freely and end the intimidation of those who report on government actions.”

Benítez and Silvente’s charges are based on Article 393 of the Cuban Penal Code which allows a punishment of up to two years in prison anyone who, “with the purpose of learning (…) or affecting the privacy, image, voice, data, or identity of another person, without their consent, obtains, facilitates, reproduces, discloses, transmits, or retains in their possession any recording or reproduction of sound, photos, or video, messages, data, or any other information.”

Benítez and Silvente’s lawyer, Roberto Ortega, told the EFE News Agency that the court is expected to issue the written ruling in about five days. Restricted liberty allows the guilty parties to lead a normal life under certain conditions, such as a ban on leaving the country,” Ortega said.

While a number of reporters were able to speak to the accused women after the verdict outside the East Havana Municipal People’s Court in Cojímar, CPJ is concerned that several other journalists were prevented from attending, including Yoani Sánchez and Camila Acosta, reported on social media that State Security agents prevented them from leaving their homes on Thursday morning.

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