MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2023) The Lefortovo district court of Moscow told Sputnik on Friday it had issued an arrest warrant in absentia for Christo Grozev, the lead investigator with the Bellingcat journalist group (listed as a foreign agent in Russia).
"The court granted the investigator's request for a restraint measure in the form of detention in absentia against Grozev," the court said.
The court specified that a criminal case against the journalist had been opened on the basis of Part 1 of Article 322 of the Criminal Code, "Illegal Crossing of the State Border of the Russian Federation," which stipulates punishment by imprisonment for up to two years.
A source in the Russian law enforcement told Sputnik that the arrest warrant was issued for organizing the escape from Russia of The Insider's chief editor, Roman Dobrokhotov (both journalist and news outlet are listed as foreign agents in Russia), in August 2021.
Dobrokhotov fled the country shortly after police searched his apartment in late July 2021. The search was conducted in connection with a case opened on the request of Dutch blogger Maximilian van der Werff. The case was linked to an investigation published by The Insider in November 2020 that claimed that the Dutch may have collaborated with the Russian Defense Ministry on the case of Boeing MH17 shot down over Ukraine in 2014. Shortly after his escape, Dobrokhotov was put on the wanted list in Russia.
In December 2022, the Russian Interior Ministry put Grozev on the wanted list, according to its database. A police said that the criminal case against him was opened for spreading fake information about the Russian army.
