The Butyrsky District Court of Moscow placed 28-year-old Leonid Gutarov, who came home to Komsomolskaya Pravda military correspondent Alexander Kots, under house arrest. The joint press service of the capital's courts reported this to Mediazona.
Today the Investigative Committee announced that Gutarov was charged in a criminal case for violation of privacy (Part 1 of Article 137 of the Criminal Code). Under this article he faces up to two years in prison.
According to investigators, Gutarov “collected information” about Kots for a fee and passed it on to an accomplice. From November 4 to November 7, writes the Investigative Committee, the accused “secretly monitored the home of the journalist’s family members” and “tried to obtain information about his professional activities from the journalist’s wife under false pretenses.”
Gutarov’s lawyers asked to be released on his own recognizance, citing the fact that he is studying at a university and “has the intention of finding a job.” In court, he admitted guilt.
The man’s arrest became known the day before. Initially, the Investigative Committee reported that Gutarov was interrogated in the case of obstruction of journalistic activity (Part 1 of Article 144 of the Criminal Code).
The Mash Telegram channel, without indicating sources, wrote that Gutarov received 5 thousand rubles a day “for work”, and on November 8 he tried to get information about the military correspondent from his wife, who did not open the door for him and called the police. A RIA Novosti source said that Gutarov was born in Kazakhstan and studied in the USA.