Professor of the University of Chicago, economist Konstantin Sonin was put on the federal wanted list in Russia, Mediazona was found in the database of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In March, the Moskva agency reported that Sonin was against him because of three posts in his the Telegram channel opened a criminal case on the spread of «fake news» about the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine (paragraph «e» of part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).
The Investigative Committee then indirectly confirmed this by issuing an impersonal press release about the persecution under this article of a “51-year-old man” — the author of a telegram channel who is abroad. The reason for the case was the posts published “from April to July 2022.”
“What I am accused of is an absolutely false accusation,” the scientist himself commented on the accusations. — Of course, I did not post any fakes, but only posted facts [about the war], which are well documented. And it is pointless to explain — the trial will be fictitious, and a verdict will be passed.
Since September 2015, Sonin has been with the School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. From August 2013 to December 2014, he served as Vice-Rector of the Higher School of Economics (HSE). Prior to that, Sonin was also Vice-Rector of the New Economic School (NES).
Screenshot from the wanted database/»Mediazona»
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Investigative Committee, according to the estimates of the OVD-Info project, opened more than 160 criminal cases under the article on the spread of military «fake news».
Several dozens of journalists, researchers and activists who spoke about the war from abroad were persecuted in absentia, including writer Dmitry Glukhovsky, politician Maxim Katz, media manager Ilya Krasilshchik, Veronika, founder of Sobaka.ru magazine Belotserkovskaya and journalist Alexander Nevzorov have already been convicted in absentia.