In an exclusive statement to The Gateway Pundit, Gonzalo Lira Sr., father of deceased American citizen and political commentator Gonzalo Lira, has launched a scathing critique of the Biden regime’s failure to protect his son.
Lira, who was detained in Ukraine and accused of being a Russian propagandist, succumbed to pneumonia after enduring months of neglect and mistreatment in a Ukrainian prison.
Lira Sr. is now on a crusade for justice.
He is urgently seeking a human rights attorney to expose the gross violation of his son’s constitutional rights and the failure of the U.S. government under Joe Biden to protect one of its own citizens.
Gonzalo Lira Sr. told The Gateway Pundit:
“As you know, I am in search of a Human Rights Attorney to bring justice and expose Biden to the American public for not caring at all towards an American citizen by birth detained un Ukraine and accusing him of being a Russian agent.
All my son did was to bring to light the reason that Russia invaded Ukraine, he was never a Russian agent. My son was exercising his FREEDOM OF SPEECH AS SANCTIONED IN THE FIRST AMENDMENT.
The US embassy in Ukraine knew on May 3, 2023 that Gonzalo was detained.
They never personally communicated with him never provided an attorney, Gonzalo was kept incommunicado for 8 months and 11 days without a trial in a dungeon prison, SIZO prison, in Kharkiv, his home town in Ukraine.
Gonzalo, deserves justice and the governments of the United States of America and of Ukraine should respond of his assassination. I am asking for your help, I need a human rights lawyer to bring justice to the horrible assassination that governments of the United States of America and of Ukraine brought to my son.”
Recall, Gonzalo Lira Sr. gave an interview to Tucker Carlson, released Dec. 9, 2023, describing the situation and charging the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv “hasn’t done a thing” to help his son.
“Neither I nor his sister living in the USA have been able to communicate” with Lira, his father said. “The Embassy never visited him, except, for the first time, at his court appointment Nov. 8th.”
“An American citizen is in jail because he was exercising his right of freedom of speech”, Lira Sr. told Carlson. “The US government’s silence suggests a degree of complicity, or at least tacit approval of Gonzalo’s arrest since nothing else convincingly explains the conspicuous lack of response.”
“Did the State Department give the green light to Zelensky to put my son in jail?” Gonzalo Lira Sr. asked.
How You Can Help
If you are a human rights attorney, know someone who is, or are connected to advocacy organizations, Gonzalo Lira Sr. needs your help.
The family is seeking legal expertise to challenge the Biden regime’s inaction and to bring international attention to Lira Jr.’s plight.
To offer assistance or learn more, contact Gonzalo Lira Sr. through The Gateway Pundit. (You can contact us directly here.)
Time is of the essence in ensuring that Gonzalo Lira Jr.’s story does not fade into obscurity and that his constitutional rights are upheld.
YouTuber and American citizen Gonzalo Lira, also known as “Coach Red Pill,” first drew the ire of Ukrainian authorities in April 2022 when he was detained by the SBU for his commentary. While his initial detention lasted only days, the message was clear: dissenting voices would not be tolerated.
He married a Ukrainian woman and moved to Ukraine in 2020, with whom he has two children. They later separated. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2021, he found himself in the middle of a shooting war.
He was arrested again in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 2023, by a heavily armed SWAT team from the Ukrainian SBU secret police.
His alleged crime? “Justifying Russian aggression” and “discrediting Ukraine’s military and political leadership,” which translates to exercising his right to free speech and criticizing both the Ukrainian government and the U.S.-backed war narrative, as previously reported by The Gateway Pundit’s correspondent Collin McMahon.
On July 2023, after more than two months in detention, the Ukrainian government released Gonzalo Lira on bail without requiring an ankle monitor and returned both his motorcycle and passport.
On August 1, 2023, Lira emerged online after three months of silence, alleging that he had been tortured by inmates with the tacit approval of Ukrainian authorities. He also claimed the SBU extorted him, stripping him of his life savings.
“Right now, I’m about to try to get out of Ukraine and seek political asylum in Hungary. Either I’ll cross the border and make it to safety, or I’ll be disappeared by the Kiev regime,” Lira tweeted at the time. (You can read his exposé HERE.)
In his video documenting his journey to the border, Lira speculated that Ukrainian authorities had subtly signaled their approval for him to jump bail and leave the country. (You can watch the three-part videos HERE, HERE, and HERE.)
The American Citizen Services department, a unit within the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine that provides assistance and support to U.S. citizens, appeared to align with this interpretation.
Surprisingly, however, American Citizen Services in Kyiv showed little interest in actively assisting Lira, an American citizen, in safely departing a war-torn country where he faced significant risks.
On August 2, 2023, Lira was rearrested by Ukrainian authorities while attempting to cross the border into Hungary to seek asylum, allegedly violating his bail conditions. He was placed in solitary confinement in Kharkiv’s SIZO detention facility, sealing his fate under an oppressive legal system.
His father, Gonzalo Lira Sr., accused the Biden regime of giving a tacit green light to Ukrainian authorities to detain his son.
“It has become more and more evident that the US Government must have given the green light to Zelenski, to arrest GONZALO LIRA an American citizen by birth living in Ukraine.
He was arrested by Ukraine’s secret police, SBU on charges pertaining to “wartime propaganda”, for which he faces the possibility of 5-8 years in jail. He is in a Ukrainian jail since May 1st a full 7 months awaiting trial
Gonzalo has been an outspoken critic of the Russia-Ukraine war since its beginning and a critic of the Zelenski regime. He has reported as a reporter and blogger to his almost 300,000 subscribers through videos and round tables, his views of the war. His brave reporting from Kharkiv discredited many of the US Government claims about this conflict.
The USG could have simply requested that Kiev deport him to lessen the damage that he’s inflicted on their information warfare operations, but it preferred to make an example out of him by pursuing his prosecution.
The US Government’s (USG) silence on this incident completely contrasts with its hysteria over Wall Street Journal (WSJ) employee Evan Gershkovich’s arrest in Russia on charges of espionage after he was caught red-handed soliciting classified military-industrial information from a regional lawmaker.
This is a betrayal of American principles since freedom of speech is regarded as a sacred right of all its citizens no matter where they might be at any given time.
Regardless of whatever one might think about Gonzalo´s views and the piece of Ukrainian legislation that was cited as the basis for arresting him, the USG is supposed to support the rights of its nationals abroad. This is especially so whenever they’re arrested for expressing an opinion and/or practicing journalism like he was.
Neither I nor his sister living in the USA have been able to communicate with him, HE IS INCOMMUNICADO. The US Embassy has not answered our inquiries. The Embassy in Kiev never offered a Defense Attorney, never visited him, never attended his Court dates.
An American citizen by birth is in jail due to EXERCISING HIS RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH. HIS DEFENSE IS IN THE HANDS OF A COURT APPOINTED ATTORNEY THAT DOES NOT SPEAK ENGLISH. HE HAS BEEN IN JAIL FOR THE PAST 7 MONTHS WITHOUT TRIAL.
The US Government with silence in the face of this scandalous incident suggests a degree of complicity in, or at the very least tacit approval of, Gonzalo´s arrest since nothing else convincingly explains the conspicuous lack of any response.
Last April 27th 2023 Gonzalo put on the web a video, this time and for the first time, heavily criticizing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. FOUR DAYS LATER HE WAS DETAINED BY ZELENSKI´S POLICE, THE SBU.
Isn´t it odd that FOUR DAYS AFTER CONDEMNING JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS Gonzalo is arrested? WHY WAS HE NOT DETAINED EARLIER? After all, he continued with his criticism of Zelenski and his regime after his spurious arrest April 22, 2022.
Did the State Department give the green light to Zelenski to put in prison an American citizen?
GONZALO LIRA was given bail last July 6th. He tried unsuccessfully to jump bail by going to Hungary for asylum. Gonzalo claimed that it was his only chance of not being thrown into a Ukrainian dungeon. While hours away from the border he put up three videos, ACCUSING THAT HE HAD BEEN TORTURED AND EXTORTED.
RIGHTEOUS CITIZEN OF THIS WORLD WAKE UP AND PRESSURE UKRAINE AND THE USA TO HAVE MY SON FREE.”
On December 2023, Lira’s case brought international attention. Prominent voices, including Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson, have condemned Ukraine’s actions, questioning the Western-backed nation’s commitment to democratic principles like free speech.
On January 4, 2024, Gonzalo Lira wrote a heartfelt letter to his sister detailing his grave health condition. He revealed that he had been suffering from double pneumonia in both lungs, pneumothorax, and a severe case of edema (swelling of the body)
Lira wrote in the letter:
“I have had a 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. 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.”
On January 11, 2024, Lira succumbed to double pneumonia after months of neglect and mistreatment. Despite pleas for adequate medical care, Ukrainian authorities ignored his deteriorating health.
Lira’s father has publicly condemned the inhumane treatment his son endured, accusing Zelensky’s regime of turning a blind eye to human rights.
The U.S. State Department offered tepid condolences but refrained from addressing Ukraine’s glaring violations of basic freedoms.
Gonzalo Lira Sr. released the following statement at the time:
“My son, GONZALO LIRA has died in a hospital in Kharkiv between 11-12 pm Ukraine time yesterday January 11th, 2024.
Gonzalo has been assassinated by the dictator Zelensky with the concurrence of a senile American President, Joe Biden.
I cannot accept the way my son has died. He was tortured, extorted, incommunicado for 8 months and 11 days and the US Embassy did nothing to help my son.
I cannot accept and I want justice to prevail by suing all the responsible persons or entities of his death.
Please read his file enclosed from that kangaroo Court hearings and you will see that the charges were a political question that Biden gave the green light to that bloody dictator to put my son in prison.
My pain is unbearable. The world must know what is going on in Ukraine with that inhuman dictator Zelensky.
IF YOU BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY AND DECENCY, MAKE THE WORLD KNOW WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO A DECENT AND VERY INTELLIGENT MAN WHO PREDICTED THAT UKRAINE WOULD NEVER WIN A WAR AGAINST RUSSIA AND THE FINANCIAL PUNISHMENTS WOULD BACKFIRE ON THE USA.”
Gonzalo Lira Sr. then posted a link to all the Ukrainian court documents charging Gonzalo Lira with “spreading Russian propaganda.”
The Gateway Pundit’s investigative reporter, Collin McMahon, has extensively reported on Gonzalo Lira’s case. (Read here.)
The Gateway Pundit filed a FOIA request on Jan. 15, 2024, four days after his death, for all communications concerning the death of Gonzalo Lira between Victoria Nuland and US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink. Eleven months later, the State Department is stalling on this request and recently wrote that the request would not be completed until March 31, 2026.
The Gateway Pundit filed the following Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the State Department:
What communication was there since Feb. 24, 2022 between the US State Department and the US Embassy in Kiev regarding US citizen Gonzalo Lira?
Specifically, what communication was there since Feb. 24, 2022 between Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and US Ambassador in Kiev Bridget Brink regarding US citizen Gonzalo Lira?
After The Gateway Pundit filed a FOIA request to find out what her role was in the death of US journalist Gonzalo Lira in Ukraine, Victoria Nuland resigned.
“Victoria Nuland has let me know that she intends to step down in the coming weeks as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs – a role in which she has personified President Biden’s commitment to put diplomacy back at the center of our foreign policy and revitalize America’s global leadership at a crucial time for our nation and the world,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Meanwhile, Judicial Watch has filed a more general FOIA request pertaining to the case of Gonzalo Lira, which does not focus specifically on the communication between Nuland and Ambassador Brink.
The Department of State released 769 heavily redacted pages to Judicial Watch in May, October and November 2024. The Gateway Pundit has received these documents from Judicial Watch and can report exclusively on the State Department’s egregious failure to save Gonzalo Lira’s life and subsequent attempts at spin.
You can read more below:
The post EXCLUSIVE: Father of Gonzalo Lira Seeks Human Rights Attorney in Quest for Justice for His Son’s “Horrible Assassination” by Biden and Zelensky’s Regime appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.