A U.S. military veteran and rock band musician – who resides in Moscow – has been arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking. Michael Travis Leake, who lives in Russia since 2010, was detained on Saturday for allegedly selling amphetamine and mephedrone.
BBC reported:
“Moscow’s Khamovnichesky court claimed that Mr Leake had ‘organised the sale of drugs to young people’, AFP reported. He denies the charges.
Russian state television broadcast footage from Mr Leake’s trial that showed him locked in a metal cage.
In a separate video shared online, he said he ‘didn’t know’ why he was detained.
Appearing confused, he said he did not believe he had done what he was accused of, because he did not know what the charges were.”
Leake is at least the third prominent American to be arrested in Russia lately, after WNBA player Brittney Griner – also accused of drug charges, and swapped by arms dealer Viktor Bout, and correspondent for the Wall Street Journal Evan Gershkovich, awaiting trial for espionage.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said it was closely monitoring the case. Leake will be held in custody until 6 August, pending a possible trial.
CNN reported:
“CNN filmed with Leake in 2014 for an episode of Parts Unknown in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Host Anthony Bourdain had personally hand-picked Leake to participate in the show.
In the episode, Leake talked about his frustrations with censorship and relayed an incident involving his band and MTV. ‘This was a documentary series about musicians standing up and risking their lives in some cases, to stand up against government abuse of power, government corruption,” he said. ‘And yet, a foreign government was able to editorially control what Americans viewers see on their TV screens. That to me is a scandal of epic proportion’.”
The documentary episode is available online. Before interview with him began, Leake half-joked with host Bourdain about audio problems the crew was having:
“It’s the KGB, they’re blocking your signal. I’m sure they have got someone on your tail the entire time.”
