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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Crime & justice fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about crime & justice. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

6,837 published reviews in this topic

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Der leitende Ermittler bzw. Staatsanwalt im Fall um die Explosionen an den Gas-Pipelines Nord Stream 1 und 2 heißt Erik Ollson und ist kürzlich an einem Bienenstich gestorben.

Publisher’s rating: Die Behauptung ist falsch und die Geschichte wurde offenbar erfunden: Auf dpa-Nachfrage erklärten die zuständigen Behörden in Dänemark und Schweden, dass es keinen «Erik Ollson» oder einen Mann mit ähnlichem Namen gibt, der in die aktuellen Ermittlungen rund um die Explosionen an der Nordstream-Pipeline beteiligt ist. Der leitende Staatsanwalt in Schweden zu dem Fall heißt Mats Ljungqvist.

The claim concerned an alleged death by bee sting of “Erik Ollson,” said to be the lead investigator or prosecutor in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline-leak case. The article reports that the Swedish and Danish authorities could not confirm such a death, and that their inquiries instead found no person of that name, or a similar name, involved in the investigation. The Swedish prosecutor’s office identified the case’s lead prosecutor as Mats Ljungqvist, while Copenhagen police said they had no employee named Erik Ollson or similarly. (S1: “Dass nun der leitende Ermittler an einem Bienenstich gestorben sei, können die Behörden in Schweden und Dänemark nicht bestätigen.”; “Der leitende Staatsanwalt in Schweden zu dem Fall heißt Mats Ljungqvist.”; “Eine Sprecherin antwortete auf dpa-Anfrage, dass es bei der Polizei Kopenhagen keinen Mitarbeiter gäbe, der «Erik Ollson» heißt oder einen ähnlichen Namen besitzt.”) The article describes checks with the relevant authorities in both countries, rather than evidence of a death. It places the leaks near Bornholm, in Danish and Swedish waters, and says the Swedish prosecutor’s office called reports about Ollson false news. The evidence presented therefore addresses both the alleged person’s role and whether he was associated with the official investigation. (S1: “Die Lecks an den Pipelines befinden sich in der Nähe der Ostsee-Insel Bornholm, teils in dänischen, teils in schwedischen Hoheitsgewässern.”; “Auf Nachfrage der Deutschen Presse-Agentur (dpa) teilt ein Sprecher der schwedischen Staatsanwaltschaft mit, dass es keinen «Erik Ollson» gibt, der in diesem Fall beteiligt ist. Es handele sich um Falschnachrichten.”)

فکت‌نامهCrime & justice

فکت‌ها و ابهام‌ها درباره پرونده نیکا شاکرمی

Publisher’s rating: نیکا شاکرمی، نوجوان ۱۷ ساله‌ای بود که در روز ۲۹ شهریور ۱۴۰۱ در اعتراضات پس از کشته‌شدن مهسا امینی در بلوار کشاورز تهران دیده شده، آخرین بار حدود ساعت ۱۱:۳۰ همان شب با نزدیکان تماس گرفته و گفته «ماموران به دنبالش هستند» سپس مفقود شد.

FACTLYCrime & justice

Uttar Pradesh police teach a lesson to two men by making them play pungi into each other’s ears

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The post attributes the video to Uttar Pradesh and says police made two men play pungi into each other’s ears to teach them a lesson. FACTLY’s review identifies the incident instead as taking place during Navratri celebrations in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. It reports that Jabalpur police were responding to nuisance and disturbances by young men, including loud pungi playing near people’s ears, and made them play the instrument into one another’s ears as punishment. Thus, the video’s described action is not the same as the claim’s asserted location. FACTLY says it began by running an internet keyword search, which led it to reports by Dainik Bhaskar and News18, and also notes coverage by ETV Bharat and ABP Live. The excerpt attributes the account of the police campaign and its purpose to Dainik Bhaskar. It does not reproduce those other reports or describe independently examining the video’s metadata, so the available explanation supports the location correction through the reporting it cites, rather than detailing a separate technical verification of the footage.

FACTLYCrime & justice

A recent news clipping reporting the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl at a temple on the pretext of Kanya Puja

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a newspaper clipping presented as recent news about the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl during Kanya Puja at a temple. FACTLY’s review identifies the clipping with an incident in Sector 14 of Panchkula, Haryana, and says the incident occurred on 13 May 2019—not recently. The review’s account is that Lakhpat took the girl to a secluded place on the pretext of Kanya Puja, molested her, crushed her head with a stone, and left her body in a forest. It also specifies that he was a labourer, not a priest, and that the crime did not take place inside a temple. To establish the clipping’s age and identify the incident, the review says it searched online using keywords and found the same screenshot in a Facebook post dated 14 May 2019. It says a clearer version showed a Dainik Bhaskar article, and that a search for further details found a Dainik Bhaskar report about the same incident. According to FACTLY’s description of that report, Lakhpat was 15 and was arrested the day after the incident. The evidence therefore addresses the exact clipping and event, while correcting its presentation as recent and its account of the location and accused’s occupation.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Die Überschrift des Artikels lautet: «Amerikanische Staatsanwälte werfen der Ukraine vor, den größten bekannten Kinderpornografie-Ring der Welt betrieben zu haben.»

Publisher’s rating: Falsch

The headline in the claim turns an accusation against an individual Ukrainian citizen into an accusation against Ukraine as a country. The DPA review says the headline was translated incorrectly: the underlying allegation concerned a Ukrainian man, not the Ukrainian state. The review describes a screenshot of a June 2012 Daily Mail article. According to the DPA, the article reported that federal prosecutors in New Jersey had charged a Ukrainian citizen with dealing in child-abuse images. The case was brought in New Jersey because men who were customers of the platform hosting the material were found there. The review compares the English headline, “American prosecutors charge Ukrainian with operating the world's largest-known child pornography ring,” with the erroneous German rendering. It explains that automatic Google translation changed “Ukrainian” into “Ukraine,” transforming the person accused into the country. The man was sentenced in the United States to 30 years in prison in 2014, the review reports.

YouturnCrime & justice

“கனடா நாட்டில் ப்ராம்ப்டன் நகரில் உள்ள ஸ்ரீ பகவத் கீதை பூங்காவில் நடந்த வெறுப்பு குற்றத்தைக் கண்டிக்கிறோம். கனடா அதிகாரிகள் மற்றும் பீல்(Peel Police) போலீசார் குற்றம் நிகழ்த்தியவர்கள் மீது உடனடியாக நடவடிக்கை எடுக்க வேண்டும்”- கனடாவில் உள்ள இந்தியத் தூதரகம்.

Publisher’s rating: Fake

日本ファクトチェックセンターCrime & justice

痴漢と言われても身分証を見せれば現行犯逮捕されない

Publisher’s rating: 誤り

The review says showing identification does not automatically make an on-the-spot arrest invalid: arrest necessity depends on the circumstances, and an ID address alone does not establish that a person will not flee. It also notes that an arrest later found improper does not automatically make the person who made it criminally liable; that may depend on whether they reasonably believed the arrest was lawful. [S1]

El Detector/ Univision NoticiasCrime & justice

El crimen violento haya subido 300% en Pennsylvania durante el mandato del vicegobernador y candidato a senador John Fetterman,

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The review examines a viral September 26, 2022, post by Chuck Callesto claiming that violent crime in Pennsylvania had risen 300% while John Fetterman was lieutenant governor. Fetterman was sworn in on January 15, 2019. The investigation reports that it could find no official data supporting the claimed increase, and that the available figures showed a substantially smaller rise.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaCrime & justice

අත්අඩංගුවට ගත් 7 දෙනාගෙන් 9 දෙනෙකුගේ රුධිරයේ මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය තිබූ බවක් කමල් ගුණරත්න පැවසුවාද?

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The claim concerns remarks by Sri Lanka’s then Defence Secretary, retired General Kamal Gunaratne, about people arrested when authorities cleared those who remained at the Presidential Secretariat during the protest movement. A circulating post attributed to him the reversed figures: that nine of the seven people arrested had drugs in their blood. Fact Crescendo says the wording was seen in a Hiru news ticker, which helped make the attribution appear credible. The review’s conclusion is that the post misled readers about what Gunaratne actually said. To check the attribution, the investigators reviewed Hiru’s 9:55 p.m. news broadcast from September 26, in which the ticker appeared, and examined footage of the media conference. They also checked the relevant portion of the full conference video, identified in the article at 17:45. According to the review, both the broadcast footage and the conference recording show Gunaratne saying that seven of the nine people arrested had drugs in their blood—not that nine of seven did. The key distinction is therefore between Gunaratne’s statement and Hiru’s incorrect ticker. The review describes the ticker as having mistakenly displayed the reversed numbers and says the video evidence confirms the correct order. The claim repeats the ticker’s error as if it were Gunaratne’s words.