If my Twitter account is protected can people I @mention directly would be able to see it?

[Zixt]

Since when the invisible mentions were stablished? I been on Twitter since 2010 and I use to get the impression they did received my tweets.

Also can people with verified accounts see private mentions?

There's a great division on the subject many think that direct mentions no matter you have protected accounts are received some don't think so.

Why is the cannot be received by anyone on less they follow you, when you send the tweet Twitter show a little black dialog window that says you has been sent?

If private mentions are not at all visible then Twitter is a huge cheat and completely absurd to use.
Privacy should be able to be established as the time you still can communicate with people whether they follow you or not. This is crazy!