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X CEO Elon Musk called out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Joe Biden regarding the status of a jailed American journalist in Ukraine.
The journalist in question is Gonzalo Lira, a prolific online personality who was arrested back in May on charges of producing pro-Russian propaganda. He would be re-arrested trying to cross into Hungary over the summer.
Lira’s father was recently interviewed by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, where he accused the Biden administration of “complicity” in the imprisonment of his son.
He also accused the State Department of giving Zelensky, whom he calls a “puppet,” the “green light to put my son in jail.”
The remarks are merely speculation by Lira Sr., and there is no evidence of collusion between the Biden administration and the Ukrainian government.
RELATED: J.D. Vance Accuses Ukraine Of Holding American Journalist Hostage While Biden Seeks To Send Them Billions More
Musk Demands Answers From Zelensky, Biden
Musk reposted the Carlson interview and called out both Zelensky and Biden, demanding answers on the status of American journalist Gonzalo Lira.
“An American citizen is in prison (in) Ukraine after we sent over a $100 billion?” he asked. “Is there more to this story than simply criticizing Zelensky?”
In a separate post, he tagged Zelensky and demanded, “President @ZelenskyyUa, please educate the American people about this matter.”
Musk wasn’t done there, likewise tagging Biden in looking for answers.
“What is the status of this American journalist @JoeBiden?” he asked.
Carlson responded to one of Musk’s posts saying of Lira, “Yep. Saying unapproved things. That’s his crime.”
But Musk’s own X messages were met with a Community Note fact-check in which they reduced Lira to a “YouTuber” who violated Ukrainian law by denying Russian attacks against civilians and “expos(ing) the location of Western journalists and Ukrainian soldiers, including their faces, among other crimes.”
Some critics have countered that those individuals were already exposed through public outlets.
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Musk Not Deterred
Despite the fact-checking, Musk seemed undeterred in his criticism of Zelensky and Biden, even accusing “state actors” of gaming the Community Notes system.
“Interesting. This Note is being gamed by state actors. Will be helpful in figuring who they are,” he wrote. “Thanks for jumping in the honey pot, guys.”
Musk again posted Sunday morning, erroneously suggesting Lira had been imprisoned for 5 years (it’s months), and claimed that he’d been “allegedly tortured” during that time.
“This is not ok,” he fumed.
In a separate X post involving a different individual who claimed Lira had been tortured, Community Notes again chimed in.
“Lira has not been tortured, neither is he in prison for the crime of criticizing Zelensky,” they wrote. “Lira is in prison because he was arrested for multiple offenses, including sharing the location of Ukrainian troops with Russia.”
“Lira was released on bail but tried to leave the country,” they added.
The State Department previously issued a statement saying that they “are aware of the detention of Mr. Lira in Ukraine” and “providing all appropriate assistance.”
His father claims otherwise.
“The U.S.A. government, with its silence in the face of this scandalous incident, suggests a degree of complicity, or at least tacit approval of Gonzalo’s arrest since nothing else explains the conspicuous lack of response,” he told Carlson.
Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) previously shared a similar story about the pretrial detention in July of a senior Orthodox cleric who had been detained in Kyiv.
The cleric, who hails from a church with historic links to Moscow, had been arrested on suspicion of inflaming religious hatred and justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Remember: the Ukraine war is all about freedom,” Vance sarcastically wrote on X. “Sometimes religious freedom requires jailing priests you don’t like. Or something.”
And YouTubers.
Lira is reportedly being held in the Kharkiv pretrial detention center and has court hearings scheduled for December 12th and 21st.
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