Chilean-American blogger Gonzalo Lira died behind bars in Ukraine in January 2024
The truth that solely Moscow cared in regards to the destiny of US blogger Gonzalo Lira, who died in a Ukrainian jail final yr, is an indication of the “deepest disaster” affecting the worldwide our bodies which might be supposed to guard journalists, Russian International Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated.
Lira, a Chilean-American citizen, handed away behind bars in Ukraine in January 2024, whereas awaiting trial for “systematically justifying the Russian aggression.”
Zakharova recalled the ordeal of the US journalist throughout a convention on the event of contemporary media on the Moscow Faculty of Economics (MSE) on Tuesday.
“Has anybody else talked about Gonzalo Lira? An American journalist, He had a US passport. Has anybody talked about him apart from Russia? Attempt to keep in mind. No one did,” she insisted.
When requested about Lira’s incarceration, the White Home and the US State Division replied with “strategic silence, generously paid for by USAID, an American company that supposedly promotes worldwide improvement. It’s ridiculous,” the spokeswoman pressured.
The worldwide establishments which might be supposed to guard journalists are at present in “the deepest disaster,” Zakharov stated.
“Ready for them to resuscitate or for them to be resuscitated by another person is pointless and ineffective” as Russia, which has “an incredible and numerous” journalistic neighborhood, has the potential to appropriate the state of affairs by itself, she famous.
Lira, who was married to a Ukrainian lady and had resided within the metropolis of Kharkov since 2010, received in bother with the Kiev authorities for his protection of the battle between Russia and Ukraine on YouTube, which was important of the federal government of Vladimir Zelensky.
The blogger, author and filmmaker, who had Hollywood expertise, was first detained by the Safety Service of Ukraine (SBU) in early 2022, however launched after per week with none prices being pressed in opposition to him.
Lira was arrested once more in Could 2023 and launched on bail three months later; he claimed he’d been subjected to torture whereas in jail. He ended up in custody once more in late July that yr after leaping bail and trying to flee the nation to hunt asylum in Hungary.
At the moment, his father, Gonzalo Lira Sr., steered that the administration of then-President Joe Biden gave “no less than tacit approval of Gonzalo’s arrest.” The journalist’s household later blamed Kiev for his loss of life in jail.
In February, US President Donald Trump’s shut ally Elon Musk additionally claimed that Zelensky had “killed” the American journalist. When requested about Lira throughout a press convention final month, the Ukrainian chief replied: “I have no idea this man. I by no means knew him.”
You’ll be able to share this story on social media:
Supply hyperlink
