Forbes Journalist Arrested In Russia

In the case of “fake news” about the army.

Sergei Mingazov, news editor of the Russian version of Forbes, was detained in a criminal case regarding “fake news” about the Russian army, his lawyer Konstantin Bubon said.

According to him, the basis for the arrest was the repost of a publication about the events in Bucha on Mingazov’s Telegram channel “Khabarovskaya Mingazeta”, which has just over 400 subscribers. The journalist was placed in a temporary detention center in Khabarovsk after being charged by the Investigative Committee.

Before this, his home was searched. “They confiscated computers, phones — both his and his wife’s, and the children’s phones and computers,” Bubon told RBC. The court hearing on choosing a restraint for Mingazov will take place tomorrow.

As the lawyer clarified, the journalist was accused of disseminating deliberately false information about the Russian army based on political, ideological or other hatred or enmity (clause “e”, Part 2, Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). The maximum penalty under this article is imprisonment for a term of five to 10 years with deprivation of the right to hold certain positions or engage in certain activities for a term of up to five years, as well as a fine in the amount of 3 million to 5 million rubles.

In recent years, Sergei Mingazov has written for the Russian edition of Forbes. Before that, he collaborated with Vedomosti, and also worked as correspondent for the TASS agency in Khabarovsk.