The Russian Investigative Committee reported that the suspect will be questioned shortly. The agency clarified that a criminal case has been initiated in Moscow against Arsen Markaryan. The blogger, as noted by the Investigative Committee, no later than February 25 of this year, published a recording on a popular video hosting platform containing information “about insulting the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland.” This pertains to Part 4 of Article 354.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which provides for a punishment of up to 5 years of imprisonment.
- As part of the investigation into the criminal case, the individual involved will be checked for involvement in other crimes committed online. Previously, the blogger had been declared wanted.
- In the winter of this year, the Moscow prosecutor’s office announced the initiation of criminal prosecution against Markaryan under the article on public calls for terrorist activities. After that, the case materials were forwarded to investigators. At that time, the prosecutor’s office stated that in one of the videos during an interview, the blogger “expressed public calls for the implementation of terrorist activities on the territory of the Russian Federation and against its citizens using unmanned aerial vehicles.”
Who is Arsen Markaryan
- Blogger Arsen Markaryan began actively using social networks in 2014. His Telegram channel has over 180 thousand subscribers. Currently, all posts there have been deleted.
- Markaryan also has his own channel on YouTube, with about 200 thousand users subscribed to him. On the video hosting platform, he has over 100 videos. In some of them, he talks about business; in other episodes, he interacts with female subscribers. During conversations, he gives them advice on communicating with men and discusses gender roles.
- In some videos, including interviews on third-party channels, Markaryan made derogatory remarks about women, including comments about their lower level of intelligence compared to men.
