Forbes journalist placed under house arrest in Russia for spreading 'fake news' about armed forces

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A journalist working for the Russian edition of the US magazine Forbes has been placed under house arrest after being detained for allegedly spreading "fake news" about the armed forces, reported CNN, citing Russian state-run RIA news agency on Saturday.

The journalist, identified as Sergey Mingazov, was ordered into house arrest for two months as he awaits trial after being detained on Friday. Mingazov's lawyer, Konstantin Bubon, said on Friday that the journalist had been detained for "reposting a publication about the events in Bucha (Ukraine)" on Telegram, as reported by CNN.

Mingazov's Telegram channel had 476 subscribers at the time of publishing this article. It shows that he reposted stories about the Russian military allegedly committing atrocities in Bucha, near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, from other news outlets such as the BBC's Russian outlet and Radio Freedom.

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According to CNN, his lawyer said that Mingazov was accused of spreading "knowingly false information" about the Russian armed forces "under the guise" of reliable reporting. The city of Bucha, which was under Russian occupation since the early stages of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was liberated by Ukrainian forces by the end of March of the same year.

According to the Ukrainian prosecutor general's office, thousands of war crimes were committed by the Russian army in the Bucha district, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. Despite evidence presented, the Kremlin denies any involvement in the mass killings, dismissing the images of civilian casualties as fabricated.

Bubon told Forbes Russia that Mingazov's house arrest was enforced as a "preventative measure." In Russia, preventative measures take place pre-trial and include being remanded in custody, released on bail, or placed under house arrest. Furthermore, Bubon stated that the court had prohibited Mingazov from accessing the internet and had imposed limitations on his interactions with individuals beyond relatives, investigators, lawyers, and medical professionals.

On Saturday, without naming Mingazov, Khabarovsk territory's Investigative Committee stated that it had chosen house arrest "as a preventative measure," after charging a man with the public dissemination of knowingly false information about the Russian armed forces.

Since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has intensified its crackdown on journalists. Notable figures such as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty editor Alsu Kurmasheva and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich have been arrested.

Additionally, courts have issued arrest warrants in absentia for several journalists, including Alexander Nevzorov, Dmitry Gordon, and Marina Ovsyannikova, for their critical remarks about the state. On Saturday, a local Russian court press service said that Konstantin Gabov, a Russian journalist it said worked as a producer for the Reuters news agency, was detained and accused of "extremism."

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