US Political Commentator Gonzalo Lira Dies in Ukrainian Custody After Criticizing Zelenskyy Government

The US Embassy building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 24, 2022. (Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)

Gonzalo Lira Jr., a U.S. citizen and political commentator, died in Ukrainian captivity last week after being charged with spreading pro-Russian propaganda while commenting about the ongoing Ukraine–Russia war.

“We can confirm the death of U.S. citizen Gonzalo Lira in Ukraine,” the U.S. State Department confirmed in an emailed statement to NTD News on Jan. 15.

Mr. Lira, 55, operated multiple YouTube channels where he posted videos commenting on the progress of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and speaking critically about the Ukrainian government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A dual citizen of the United States and Chile, Mr. Lira had been living in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion in 2022.

Ukrainian authorities began investigating Mr. Lira in March 2022, days after the start of the invasion, and he was arrested in May 2023 under a law that punishes speech that justifies, glorifies, or denies the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian Captivity

While jailed ahead of trial, Mr. Lira alleged that his fellow inmates did the “dirty work” for the prison guards by repeatedly beating him. Ukrainian authorities denied those claims.

Mr. Lira managed to post bail in July 2023 and took to social media and YouTube thereafter to announce that he intended to flee Ukraine and seek asylum in Hungary. At the time, he explained that he felt there were few chances to flee east, through the active combat zone, to find safety in Russia.

While he said he also believed that most countries bordering Ukraine to the west would simply return him if asked by Ukrainian authorities, he predicted he might have a chance of finding asylum in Hungary.

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“I’m hoping that the authorities in Hungary will look at my indictment, realize that it has nothing to do with me being an actual bonafide criminal in terms of harming people or property and it’s really a strictly free speech issue, an issue of democratic speech,” Mr. Lira said in a July 31, 2023, YouTube post. “And I’m hoping that the Hungarian authorities will show some mercy, and some understanding and grant me this political asylum.”

In the same video, Mr. Lira predicted that if he were caught attempting to flee the country, he would most likely die in the Ukrainian prison system.

“My case originally started as a free speech issue, but because of the [Ukrainian Secret Service (SBU)] and the inherent corruption of the SBU and the criminal justice system in Ukraine, I will definitely be sent to a prison labor camp where I will most certainly die,” he said. “And so I decided that the smart thing was [to] take my chances in terms of getting across the border.”

Mr. Lira failed in his bid for asylum in Hungary and was again picked up by the Ukrainian authorities.

US Efforts to Assist Lira

“American citizens should have the ability to express their thoughts and views,” about the war in Ukraine, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) told The Epoch Times in May 2023. He added that he would look into Mr. Lira’s detention in Ukraine and said he would “urge our State Department to engage” on the matter.

That same day, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the department was aware of reports of Mr. Lira’s detention and said “in general” that “we obviously support the exercise of freedom of speech anywhere in the world,” but declined to comment further.

According to communications shared with The Grayzone by his father, Gonzalo Lira Sr., the younger Lira was dealing with pneumonia for nearly three months prior to his death. According to a handwritten letter shared with The Grayzone, Mr. Lira’s medical condition was being ignored by his jailers.

“I have had double pneumonia (both lungs) as well as pneumothorax and a very severe case of edema (swelling of the body). All this started in mid-October, but was ignored by the prison. They only admitted I had pneumonia at a Dec. 22 hearing,” the letter reads.

“I am about to have a procedure to reduce the edema pressure in my lungs, which is causing me extreme shortness of breath, to the point of passing out after minimal activity, or even just talking for 2 minutes.”

Mr. Lira Sr. told The Grayzone that he had been pleading with the U.S. State Department to intervene on his son’s behalf. The State Department told him that U.S. Embassy staff in Ukraine had “attended” his son’s Dec. 22, 2023, hearing “virtually” and would “also attend subsequent hearings virtually.”

Mr. Lira Jr. died on or about Jan. 11 or 12 while in Ukrainian custody.

In statements shared with The Grayzone and reporter Liam Cosgrove, Mr. Lira Sr. blamed the Ukrainian government and the Biden administration for his son’s death.

“He was tortured, extorted, incommunicado for 8 months and 11 days and the US Embassy did nothing to help my son. The responsibles [sic] of this tragedy is the dictator Zelensky with the concurrence of a senile American president, Joe Biden,” the elder Lira stated.

“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” the U.S. State Department said in its statement to NTD News confirming the death of Mr. Lira Jr. “We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment.”

The State Department didn’t respond by press time to a request by NTD News for further comment, including about what efforts U.S. officials made to win Mr. Lira’s release.

From NTD News