Russian journalist detained in Iran on suspicion of espionage
Russian journalist Yulia Yuzik has been arrested in Iran on suspicion of spying, according to her family members and friends. According to her colleague and her former husband Boris Wojciechowski, two years ago, Yulia worked in Iran as a correspondent, and several days ago, she went to Tehran.
"But the officials took away her passport at the airport, saying that they would return it when Yulia is leaving the country. However, yesterday, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps broke down the door to her room, and took Yulia directly from the hotel," wrote a journalist on Facebook.
Yulia's daughter also confirmed the information. "She knew that such a scenario was possible, but she went to Iran anyway. On Saturday, there will be a court hearing to decide her fate," she wrote.
Yuzik is accused of having links with the Israeli Intelligence Community, and she could be sentenced up to 10 years in prison.
The Press Secretary of the Russian Embassy in Iran Andrei Ganenko told that Russian diplomats are already working on this situation, reports RBC news agency.
Yulia Yuzik worked in Komsomolskaya Pravda and Moskovskij Komsomolets newspapers. In 2003, she wrote the book Brides of Allah about suicide bombers from the Caucasus, as well as Dictionary of Beslan, about the terrorist attack in Beslan in 2004. The journalist has worked in various hot spots. In 2016, she ran for the seat in state Duma from a single-mandate district in Dagestan with the support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Open Russia.