Colombian was arrested in Russia for “spreading false information” about the National Army

Russian authorities arrested a Colombian man on April 11 for allegedly “spreading false information” about that country's Armed Forces on social media.

According to the news agency Tass, the Colombian will become the first foreigner to answer for the “fake news” law that has been in force since the beginning of this year.

The agency reported that the captured Colombian was identified as Alberto Enrique Girlado Saray and resided in Moscow, where he was sending news against the Russian army.

Giraldo will face a fine of 3 and 4 million rubles (US$37,300 and US$62,300) or pay 10 years in a Russian prison, the state news agency said.

For its part, The Wall Steet Journal cited Russian police sources and stated that the accusation focuses on the dissemination of false information in collaboration with 'accomplices who are also being identified'.

For now, the Colombian embassy in Moscow has not said anything about Giraldo's arrest.

For its part, the Interfax agency maintained that the spokeswoman of the Moscow Basmanni Court, Yekaterina Buravtsova, received a request from the authorities to “apply to the Colombian citizen Giraldo Sarai Alberto Enrique the precautionary imprisonment measure”.

Russia's penal code warns that persons found guilty of spreading lies on social networks about the Russian Armed Forces could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

The penalties for publishing this type of news will be 700,000 rubles ($7,403) to 1.5 million rubles ($14,423). If, in the offence, a person abusing his office or a group of persons by means of “artificial evidence”, “for profit” or “for reasons of political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred or enmity”, the fine would be 3 million rubles (28,846 dollars) to 5 million rubles (48,077).

In this case, the term of imprisonment could be between 5 and 10 years. Penalties could amount to between 10 and 15 years of imprisonment if these actions entail serious consequences.

Since the start of its offensive in Ukraine on February 24, Russia has banned numerous local and foreign media and social networks Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on its territory. The American group Meta was classified as an “extremist”.

But this is not the only weapon of the Russian regime against the press. On April 6, a law was proposed authorizing the Attorney General's Office to shut down national and foreign press outlets for a variety of reasons.

These would include coverage of the invasion of Ukraine that deviates from the official line or that discredits the Russian armed forces and their actions in Ukraine. All this would be punishable for being considered “fake news”.

The attorney general could also shut down a foreign media outlet in Russia simply in retaliation for the closure of a Russian media outlet in another country.

The approval of the bill requires three readings in the State Duma (the lower house); the approval of the Federation Council (the upper house); and the signature of President Vladimir Putin. The process can take months or days, depending on the authorities' eagerness to apply the new restrictions.

The Russian government has imposed unprecedented restrictions on the coverage of the war in Ukraine.

KEEP READING: