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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.

6,849 published reviews in this topic

maharat-newsCrime & justice

هل يمكن محاكمة الوزراء أمام القضاء العدلي بقضايا الفساد والمال العام؟

Publisher’s rating: صحيح

The review addresses a statement by Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah that ministers can be called before Lebanon’s ordinary judiciary in cases involving corruption or public money. It separates those alleged offenses from the ministers’ alleged failures in connection with the Beirut port explosion: lawyer Tony Mkhayel described the latter as alleged neglect of ministerial duties, including not taking precautions after learning of the ammonium nitrate. The review says such allegations are treated as functional breaches and directed to the higher council for the trial of presidents and ministers. (S1) To explain the distinction, the article cites constitutional Articles 70 and 71. It says the higher council has exclusive jurisdiction over the president or ministers when accused of high treason or breaching duties attached to their office, and that a parliamentary accusation requires a two-thirds majority of the full membership. Mkhayel characterized the council as having both political and judicial components, since it includes MPs as well as judges. (S1) By contrast, the review classifies ordinary offenses committed while holding ministerial office—giving theft, embezzlement, abuse of power, and bribery as examples—as criminal offenses rather than breaches of official duties. It invokes Article 66, which it says makes ministers collectively answerable to Parliament for general government policy and individually answerable for personal acts. On that basis, the review concludes that corruption-related offenses, including embezzlement of public funds, may be tried in the ordinary courts, while functional breaches and high treason fall under the higher council. (S1)

dpa Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Ein Video beweist: Ein Ukrainer hat in einem russischen Supermarkt in Regensburg randaliert.

Publisher’s rating: Falsch. Das Video zeigt einen Vorfall in Russland vor einigen Jahren und hat nichts mit Deutschland zu tun.

The claim attached a video of a supermarket disturbance to a specific setting and person: a Russian supermarket in Regensburg, allegedly with a Ukrainian man responsible for the damage. The review examined that footage and found that its location and timing had been misrepresented. It reports that the scene was not filmed in Germany and that the incident took place several years earlier in Ulyanovsk, Russia. To trace the video, the investigators searched still images from it using Yandex reverse image search. That search surfaced older Russian-language reports, including pages on 360tv and Bezformata. Those reports identified the location as Ulyanovsk and dated the incident to March 2019; they described a drunk man causing damage in a Magnit supermarket. The review also says the shop could be located using Google Maps. The Regensburg connection was checked separately. The Monolith Group, which owns the Mix Markt in Regensburg, told the agency it knew of no recent customer conflicts there. Taken together, the reported video trail and the company’s response do not support the claim that the footage showed a Ukrainian man rioting at that Regensburg store. The review’s account instead places the incident in a different country, city, supermarket chain, and year.

FACTLYCrime & justice

Image showing police arrest of Bhagwant Mann and his friends for stealing a bike

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a circulating image said to show Bhagwant Mann and friends being arrested for stealing a bike. FACTLY’s investigation traced the same image to a Facebook post by Punjabi singer and actor Karamjit Anmol. That post described it as “Holi memories with Bhagwant Mann” and tagged Manjit Sidhu, rather than presenting it as a photograph of an arrest. The review says a reverse image search led investigators to this post. To identify people in the photograph and establish its setting, the review reports that Newschecker contacted Manjit Sidhu. Sidhu confirmed he was the person in the black T-shirt next to Mann. He also said the photo was taken in Patiala on the roof of his house during Holi, in 1994 or 1995, when singer Harbhajan Mann was visiting. Sidhu named Bhagwant Mann, Karamjit Anmol and Harbhajan Mann as among those present. The review therefore identifies the image as an old Holi photograph, not a record of a bike-theft arrest. Its account supports that conclusion through the earlier social-media post and Sidhu’s identification and description of the photograph’s occasion and location.