DISINFO: Gonzalo Lira’s death is collusion between Kyiv and its US patrons
SUMMARY
Gonzalo Lira, a 55-year-old Chilean American who was imprisoned and tortured in Ukraine after openly criticising Volodymyr Zelensky has died in a Ukrainian jail. His death is a clear collusion between the criminal Kyiv regime and its US patrons.
RESPONSE
Inaccurate reporting about the death of an American citizen who supported the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Gonzalo Lira was an Chilean-American citizen who is referred to as a “journalist” or “movie maker” by pro-Kremlin sources, however he was a private user of social networks spreading anti-Ukrainian narratives.
Lira’s videos deny Russian war crimes and justify Russian aggression. Lira claimed that Ukraine is shelling its own territory and is ruled by a neo-Nazi regime. These activities are a criminal offence according to Article 436-2 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (justifying, recognising as legitimate, denying Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine, heroising its participants). The Security Service documented Lira’s activities and served the blogger with a notice of suspicion. In May 2023, the court chose a preventive measure for him in the form of detention with the possibility of bail. He was initially released under house arrest after posting bail, but was arrested again in July while trying to cross the Hungarian border on a motorcycle.
There is no evidence to suggest that Gonzalo Lira was subjected to torture. Currently, his medical records are not available, and there is a lack of evidence to confirm that he was denied necessary medical care.
Torture allegations were strenuously denied by Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, a former American journalist who became a sergeant in the Ukrainian army, in an interview with Business Insider. Ashton-Cirillo said: "In an effort to gain sympathy, Gonzalo Lira made up allegations of abuse and torture. As someone who spoke to him shortly after he was returned to custody, it was clear that he was in good health and treated extremely fairly by the state security services."
The Ukrainian Center for Strategic Communications in its piece "What's wrong with pro-Russian blogger Gonzalo Lira, for whom Carlson and Musk stood up" described in detail Gonzalo Lira's months-long anti-Ukrainian activities.
More can be read here and here.
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