Telegram Channel Bazas Editor-in-Chief Arrested Amid Police Raid and Abuse of Power Investigation

The editor-in-chief of the Telegram news channel Baza was detained on Tuesday, according to his lawyer, as police conducted a search at the channel’s headquarters in Moscow.

Gleb Trifonov, who has been at the helm of Baza since 2022, was arrested following a search of his residence earlier that day, lawyer Alexei Mikhalchik informed the state-run TASS news agency. It remains unclear if Trifonov is facing any specific charges.

Additionally, two other staff members from Baza were briefly held for questioning but were released without any charges, Mikhalchik reported. He noted that he had not yet managed to reach Trifonov.

According to Mikhalchik, the arrest seems to be linked to a criminal investigation regarding abuse of power involving a law enforcement official suspected of leaking sensitive information that subsequently appeared on a Telegram channel.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Investigative Committee disclosed an investigation into abuse of power, although it did not name Baza specifically. Nevertheless, the timing of the announcement and concurrent searches in Moscow as well as in the Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, and Belgorod regions suggest a connection to the channel.

Earlier, the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Nu Ranshe Vsekh shared photos and video footage of law enforcement officials inside Baza’s office, with the staff present nearby. Baza later reported that police had seized phones, computers, and documents during the search.

With over 1.6 million subscribers on Telegram, Baza is recognized for its strong connections to law enforcement and frequently references anonymous police sources in its reports, while also demonstrating pro-government inclinations.

The searches conducted on Tuesday occurred almost two months after a similar operation at the news outlet Ura.ru in Yekaterinburg, where the editor-in-chief was accused of bribery involving his uncle, a former police official.