Berlin prosecutors have launched an investigation into Ivan Blagoi, a journalist at the Russian state-run Channel One television channel, the Deutsche Welle newspaper reported, citing German lawyer Martin Luithle, who requested the investigation.
"At the moment, there are only allegations. The prosecutors are studying the evidence," Luithle told Deutsche Welle.
The investigation concerns Blagoi's report on the alleged rape of a Russian-speaking teenage girl in Berlin by Arab migrants, the newspaper reported Sunday.
The report aired on Jan. 16 was filmed as a piece of propaganda and was aimed at inciting ethnic hatred, according to Luithle. If found guilty, Blagoi faces between three months to five years in prison, Luithle told Deutsche Welle.
Channel One deputy head Kirill Kleimenov said he had no issue with the journalist and expressed his support.
"I'm sure Ivan acted in an absolutely accurate, correct and fair way," he said in an interview with the Govorit Moskva radio station on Sunday.
The girl in question, 13-year Liza disappeared for 30 hours on Jan. 11. According to her parents, she was kidnapped on her way to school and raped by migrants.
German police didn't find any evidence of rape and said the girl was hiding from her parents at her friend's house, Deutsche Welle reported.
