Russia has launched a case against a prominent journalist under a new strict Russian media law. It concerns former journalist and commentator Aleksandr Nevzorov, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.
He is suspected of providing “deliberate misinformation” about the Russian troops, TASS writes. Nevzorov is also said to have shared images of Russian bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol earlier this month. The Russian Defense Ministry has dismissed the images, which were distributed by Ukrainian media, as fake news. The photos from the besieged port city went around the world and sparked outrage in the West.
The 63-year-old Nevzorov is mainly active on YouTube and is said to live outside of Russia. State news agency TASS reports that Russian authorities are currently trying to determine his whereabouts.
At the beginning of this month, Russia passed a law banning citizens and journalists from spreading information the Kremlin denounces as “fake news.” The words “offensive,” “invasion,” or “war” are strictly prohibited under that law.
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