Journalist Gonzalo Lira Seeks Asylum in Hungary After Cruel, Inhumane Detention in War-Torn Ukraine
Shane Trejo
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Journalist Gonzalo Lira is pleading with Hungary for asylum after enduring a long and cruel jail sentence in the nation of Ukraine after exposing information that exposed the corruption of the war effort.
“Right now, I’m about to try to get out of Ukraine, and seek political asylum in Hungary,” Lira wrote in a tweet. “Either I’ll cross the border and make it to safety, or I’ll be disappeared by the Kiev regime.”
Lira noted that he was arrested for posting YouTube videos on May 1 for “making videos critical of the West and their proxy regime in Kiev” and exposing “how they are destroying Ukraine.”
“My indictment explicitly states that all I did was discuss publicly known facts about the war—the epitome of free speech in a democracy,” he added. “But Zelensky’s Ukraine is no democracy—it is a thieving, corrupt, murderous gangster regime PRETENDING to be a polite “western” democracy.”
“Once inside Sizo Prison, I was tortured in two of the four cells I was in—by the other prisoners. Guards NEVER beat prisoners—they outsource torture to the other prisoners,” Lira stated.
He was released and plans to stand trial on Aug. 2. Lira says that the Ukrainian government did not give him the ankle bracelet they claimed he would receive so he is making a run for it to Hungary.
“I rode my motorcycle across Ukraine—1,400 kms in two days. I’m going to Hungary to ask for political asylum. When I fail to show up in court in Kharkov, an arrest warrant will be issued, likely an international warrant,” he said.
The entire Twitter thread of Lira explaining his plight can be found here.
Videos of Lira about to cross the border explaining his struggles in Ukraine can be seen on YouTube here:
Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Draconian restrictions on free speech that essentially gives his regime absolute power to snuff out journalists and media outlets under the flimsiest of pretenses.
The law was fiercely opposed by watchdog groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine vehemently derided the measure as well.
“Such powers are clearly excessive,” the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine wrote. “No one has yet managed to tame freedom of speech in Ukraine. It won’t work this time either.”
If Lira does not receive sanctuary from Hungary or another nation, he will likely be at the mercy of Zelensky’s Nazi-affiliated Western-funded butchers before long.
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