The investigation asks for the arrest in absentia of cartoonist Pavel Muntyan and politician Dmitry Gudkov in cases of military “fakes”

The Khoroshevsky District Court of Moscow registered materials on the election of a preventive measure in absentia in the form of detention for the animator Pavel Muntyan and the politician Dmitry Gudkov . Mediazona drew attention to the information on the court’s website.

Creator of the animated series Mr. Freeman Pavel Muntyan and opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov are accused of spreading “fakes” about the army motivated by political hatred (clause “e” of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). On December 26, the Ministry of Internal Affairs put them both of on the wanted list.

The card on Muntean’s case says that a preventive measure was to be chosen for him today. As later reported the joint press service of the Moscow courts , the court granted the investigation's request. The hearing in Gudkov’s case, according to information on the court’s website, is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00.

The criminal case against Gudkov under Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code became known in October. The reason for the persecution was a video entitled “What has Putin’s war in Ukraine led to?”, published on April 29, 2022 on YouTube. In the video, the politician sums up the results of two months of war. Gudkov himself left Russia in 2021; in February 2023, the Ministry of Justice added him to the list of “foreign agents.”

telegram channels wrote As the Baza and Astra , Muntean was accused of spreading military “fakes” because of a post about Bucha, written in April 2022. In it, the cartoonist wrote that the Russian military shot 280 local residents. Muntean was recognized as a “foreign agent” in April 2023.

Updated at 10:35 p.m. Information has been added that the court granted the petition for Muntyan’s arrest in absentia.