Moscow councilman hit with criminal charges under Russia’s ‘fake news’ law

A court in Moscow has arrested local councilman and head of Moscow’s Krasnoselsky district Alexey Gorinov for spreading “fake information” about the Russian army, politician Ilya Yashin informed.

According to Yashin, Novaya Gazeta Editor-in-Chief Dmitry Muratov has signed Gorinov’s bail bond. In Russia, bail bonds can be signed by people vouching for the defendant. In some cases, courts can reconsider the chosen measure of restraint after a bail bond is signed, however, in politically motivated cases such as this one, it is unlikely.

Yesterday, police searched the office of the Krasnoselsky District’s council. Yashin suggested that this might be in relation to anti-war statements of local council members during recent sessions.

Earlier today, Russian reporter Maria Ponomarenko was arrested for two months under the same “fake news” law. She was detained on April 24. Police filed criminal charges against the reporter for the March 17 publication on the RusNews Telegram channel about civilians hiding in the Mariupol theatre that was bombed by Russian forces. The outlet’s Telegram channel has about 1,600 subscribers.