The Biden State Department has refused to say whether it would push for the release of American-Chilean citizen, Gonzalo Lira, who was arrested in Ukraine over his political speech.
Gonzalo Lira, also known as Coach Red Pill, is a YouTuber living initially in Kharkiv, who has been critical of the Zelensky regime in Ukraine. In April last year, he first went offline, after reports circulated that he had been captured by Ukrainian special forces or killed by the controversial Azov Battalion, but later confirmed he was alive and well.
For the truth about the Zelensky regime, Google these names:
Vlodymyr Struk
Denis Kireev
Mikhail & Aleksander Kononovich
Nestor Shufrych
Yan Taksyur
Dmitri Djangirov
Elena BerezhnayaOnce again: If you haven’t heard from me in 12 hours or more, put my name on this list.
GL
— Gonzalo Lira (@GonzaloLira1968) April 22, 2022
At the start of this month, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), said in a press release that Lira had been arrested for “support[ing] the Russian invaders and glorify[ing] their war crimes,” along with “discrediting the top military and political leadership” of Ukraine, denying “the facts” of Russian missile attacks, and attempting to show the “faces of Ukrainian defenders.”
Lira was charged with “manufacturing and distribution of materials justifying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, committed repeatedly,” with the investigation into his alleged crimes of speech still ongoing by the authorities in Ukraine.
Liam Cosgrove, a reporter for the Epoch Times, noted to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller that Lira’s crimes “ultimately added up to speech,” which would not have been a crime in the United States.
“I spoke with Congressman Ted Lieu, a Democrat, and he said he urges the State Department to engage its authorities to work out some sort of negotiation to get him released,” Cosgrove continued. “Are you guys aware of this? How do we feel about our allies detaining US citizens for speech abroad?”
In reply, Miller stated that the State Department was “in general… aware of the report,” and that they “obviously support the exercise of freedom of speech anywhere in the world,” but that he would “leave it at that.” Despite further questioning from Cosgrove, Miller refused to add any further comments about the State Department’s involvement in Lira’s case.
State Department refuses to say whether it will negotiate with Zelensky for the release of detained U.S. citizen Gonzalo Lira: pic.twitter.com/jTD58XjYnw
— Liam Cosgrove (@cosgrove_iv) May 28, 2023
