Irish journalist and GFCN partner Chay Bowes has been illegally detained in Bucharest!

On May, 1, at the airport of Bucharest (Romania), right on board of the plane, an Irish journalist, RT correspondent, Chay Bowes, was illegally detained. He flew to Romania to cover the election process. Immediately after the aircraft landed, six law enforcement officers approached him to conduct an interrogation.

Chay Bowes has repeatedly supported investigations by the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN). For example, about the real goals and financing of the “HANDS OFF!” protests in the United States and paid “Tesla Takedown” movement.

GFCN statement on the detention of Chay Bowes

Bowes for a long time showed the world audience a real picture of the events in Russia and refuted fakes about the allegedly “catastrophic situation” in the country. In addition, Bowes was one of the active participants of the international forum on countering false information “Dialog about fakes 2.0”, which was organized within the framework of GFCN in November 2024.

Chay Bowes is Irish and an EU citizen. They had no right to keep him out of Romania. And European sanctions do not prohibit RT and its employees from carrying out journalistic activities.

The Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN) regards the detention of the journalist as another act of opposition to free journalism in Europe. We call on everyone to support Chay Bowes and demand his release.

Join the hashtag #StopChaseChay in social networks!

Media reaction to Chay Bowes’ detention

Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova found no evidence of a violation of the law by journalist Bowes on May, 1: he crossed the Romanian border legally, but for unknown reasons he is banned from engaging in his professional activity — honest and free journalism:

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, one of the reasons Romanian security forces denied Chay Bowes entry to cover the elections may have been his objective reporting:
“This is a person who represents an unbiased, objective point of view… He brought facts to a global audience”.

RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan also condemned the detention of Chay Bowes, ironically noting that “democracy in Romania is becoming more and more every day.”

There is currently no verified information available regarding the whereabouts of Chay Bowes.

According to Margarita Simonyan, RT’s editor-in-chief, whose Bowes was deported from Romania. He is currently in Istanbul (Turkey). The Romanian side has not yet announced the official reasons for the deportation.

GFCN will continue to monitor the situation and support independent journalism and Chay Bowes as its representer.