A sight of the State Duma structure, the reduced chamber of Russia’s parliament, in main Moscow on October 27, 2022. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
An American artist with the Russian rock team LoviNoch (Catch the Night) has actually been apprehended in Moscow on uncertainty of medication trafficking, according to media records.
Michael Travis Leake, whose Instagram account determines him as the band’s vocalist (his last blog post got on Feb. 3), is believed of offering mephedrone, a medication with comparable results to drug and also MDMA, CNN and also the Associated Press reported, mentioning Russian media records and also a declaration on Telegram from a Moscow court.
Leake deals with costs for the circulation or manufacturing of medications, which bring a sentence of as much as twenty years behind bars. A Moscow court has actually bought him to be held for 2 months in pre-trial apprehension, the records claim.
CNN reported that Russian media electrical outlets, consisting of Ren TELEVISION, a tabloid electrical outlet, released a video clip of Leake’s apprehension at his house and also a cup shot from a Russian police headquarters on Thursday (June 8). “I don’t understand why I’m here. I don’t admit guilt, I don’t believe I could have done what I’m accused of because I don’t know what I’m accused of,” Leake apparently stated.
A previous paratrooper with the U.S. armed force that has actually resided in Moscow given that 2010, Leake showed up on a 2014 episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown in Moscow and also St. Petersburg after being handpicked by Bourdain to appear on the show. In the episode, he half-joked that the KGB was eavesdroping on their discussion and also trailing Bourdain.
The episode’s manufacturer, Darya Tarasova, informed CNN that Leake and also his pals were singing doubters of Russian state censorship and also supporters totally free speech in the nation.
The U.S. State Department validated Leake’s apprehension in a declaration sent out to Billboard, with a speaker writing, “The Department of State takes seriously its commitment to assist U.S. citizens abroad. It is our standard practice to reach out to the families of U.S. citizens detained overseas as soon as we are provided permission by the individual. We have attempted to reach out to Mr. Leake’s family. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance to Mr. Leake and his family.”
On Sunday, the State Department informed CNN that U.S. consular office authorities had actually participated in Leake’s accusation the day prior. “We will continue to monitor the case closely,” a State Department representative informed the electrical outlet.
Leake is the most recent American to be restrained by Russian authorities given that the nation’s army pressures got into Ukraine in February 2022. Punitive financial assents by the United States and also its Western allies have more stretched stress with Russia.
In an additional drug-related instance, WNBA celebrity Brittney Griner was apprehended the month of the intrusion after vape cylinders including marijuana oil were discovered in her travel luggage at a Moscow airport terminal. A Russian court punished her to 9 years behind bars, however she was launched in December for U.S.-imprisoned Russian arms dealership Viktor Bout.
And in March, Russian authorities restrained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, charging him of reconnaissance, which he rejects. On May 23, a Russian court prolonged his apprehension by 3 months.
