MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - Moscow's Gagarinsky District Court has arrested in absentia public figure Leonid Gozman and economist and University of Chicago professor Konstantin Sonin, both designated in Russia as foreign agents, on suspicion of spreading fake information about the Russian Armed Forces, a court spokesperson told Interfax on Tuesday.
The court ruled in favor of an investigator's request to remand Gozman and Sonin in custody for two months as soon as they are detained or extradited to Russia, the spokesperson said.
Gozman has been charged in absentia with publicly disseminating knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces' actions, according to the court. Sonin has been charged with committing the same crime, also driven by hatred or enmity. Both men have been put on the international wanted list.
Their lawyers asked the court to reject the investigator's request.
The accusations against Gozman and Sonin center on their public remarks dealing with the special military operation.