Billy Six

Last updated

Billy Six
Aleman Billy Six (cropped).jpg
Personal information
Born (1986-12-24) 24 December 1986 (age 38)
East Berlin, East Germany
Occupation(s)Vlogger, journalist, activist
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2011–present
Genre(s)Independent journalism, activism
Subscribers23,000 [1]
Total views4,168026 [1]
(August 2024)

Billy Six (born 24 December 1986) is a German independent journalist, activist, author and vlogger (YouTuber). He has been active since 2011, when he worked as a war reporter for German newspaper Junge Freiheit in Egypt, but since then has reported from conflict zones including Libya, Syria, Lebanon, and Ukraine for his YouTube channel. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Life and career

Six graduated from high school in Berlin in 2006. His professional career started as a business administrator and then member of his local parliament of Neuenhagen. [6] By 2011, Six had embarked on a career in journalism, beginning with writing for far-right German newspaper Junge Freiheit. [7] [8] [3] Early in his journalistic career, Six covered the refugee situation in Europe, spending a month with refugees, for Junge Freiheit TV. [9] He also covered the war in Libya for Junge Freiheit, in 2011. [3]

Syria

In 2012, Six went to cover the Syrian civil war, working for Junge Freiheit. In the course of his reporting, he was arrested by the Syrian army. [10] He was held for 12 weeks under local laws, and only released after an intervention by Russian diplomats. [11] Six continued to write about the Syrian war for Junge Freiheit in 2013. [12]

Germany

By 2016, Six had already reported extensively from Ukraine, including on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17). [13] On 2 August 2016, on the theme of MH17, along with British journalist Graham Phillips, Six entered the Berlin office of the investigative journalism organisation Correctiv without permission. In the Correctiv offices, Phillips, accompanied by Six, demanded an interview with Marcus Bensmann, who was investigating MH17. Upon being refused access to Bensmann, Phillips repeatedly accused Correctiv of lying, shouting "Lying press!", while filming the incident, and refusing to leave. Correctiv called the police, however Phillips and Six evaded them. [14] [15]

COVID 19

Six was an open and active coronavirus sceptic, describing the pandemic as 'pure scaremongering'. [16] A Bavaria hospital which Six had filmed, making it out to be empty, reportedly filed charges against him for unauthorised filming. [16] Six had several of his videos on the theme removed from YouTube, and he was further criticised by Correctiv for his position on, and reporting on COVID-19. [17]

Apparently having problems in Germany due to his covid activism, Six left for some time to Georgia, where he did videos for his YouTube channel, mostly contrasting the situation in Georgia regarding lockdowns and restrictions, with that of Germany. [18]

Venezuela

In late 2018, Six travelled to Venezuela to report on the ongoing crisis in the county, for his YouTube channel. Six had apparently left Venezuela to go to neighbouring Colombia, and was then arrested as he returned to Venezuela, at an inn in Villa Marina  [ es ], a beach town located in Los Taques Municipality near Punto Fijo. Six was detained in the intelligence prison of the SEBIN, "El Helicoide" by the Venezuelan secret service DGCIM. He was accused of being a German spy, and before a military court indicted of espionage, rebellion, and violation of security zones. Six, who was denied access to a lawyer, declared in his defence that the charges against him "were without foundation". [19] [20]

Berlin initially gave no comment on the detainment of their citizen. [21] On 13 December 2018, Six began a hunger strike, to draw attention to his situation. [22] [23] Six's case attracted considerable controversy, with Reporters Without Borders declaring that the allegations were unproven and calling for his immediate release. [24] Eventually, the Russian government intervened during a meeting of foreign minister Sergiy Lavrov with Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza at United Nations Conference on Drugs and Crime in Vienna on 14 March 2019. [25] [26] [27] Six was released the next day and on 16 March 2019, he was granted conditional permission to leave the country. [28] The conditions included reporting to authorities in Germany at 15-day intervals and a ban on him speaking about the incident. [24] [29]

Ukraine

Billy Six in Ukraine Billy Six from Ukraine during mh17 interviews.jpg
Billy Six in Ukraine

Six often reported from Ukraine in the context of the War in Donbas (2014–2022). [30] He has produced multiple videos on the MH17 disaster, spending extensive time in the crash area, carrying out his own investigative research. Six was interviewed by the BBC in the documentary Conspiracy Files: Who Shot Down MH17 (May 2016). [13] The BBC reported "Six thinks two (Ukrainian) fighter jets shot down MH17 - one firing its cannon, the other firing a missile." He has also given an interview to investigative agency Bellingcat on the theme. [31]

In late 2022, Six returned to Ukraine, making YouTube videos, firstly from Lviv, asking people what they thought of Ukrainian Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists leader, Stepan Bandera. Six followed this up with a report from the Ukrainian frontlines, interviewing Ukrainian soldiers in what Six described as 'Putin's lost battle'. Six had then wanted to cross from Ukrainian territory, into territory held by Russia, however his request to pro-Russian American Russell Bentley for help in this was firmly rejected, causing the two to fall out, with Bentley accusing Six of having 'switched sides'. [32]

As of late 2024, Six continues to post videos on his YouTube channel, from Germany, and post to his channel on Telegram. [33] [34]

Books

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 "About Billy Six". YouTube.
  2. ↑ "Journalist Held in Venezuela Facing 28 Years in Prison for Spying". rsf.org. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 "Libysches Bürgerkriegstagebuch XVII" [Libyan Civil War Diary XVII]. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "German journalist held in Venezuela facing 28 years in prison on spying charges". 11 December 2018.
  5. ↑ "German freelancer Billy Six freed, leaves Venezuela after 4 months in prison". 18 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "Vom Straßenrand auf den Acker" [From the side of the road to the field] (in German). 19 February 2009. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Sicherheit gibt es nirgends". Junge Freiheit (in German). 17 October 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Ich hoffe, es gibt Krieg". Junge Freiheit. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "JF-TV: Die Flüchtlingslüge" [The refugee lie]. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2017– via YouTube.
  10. ↑ "SYRIEN: Billy, das Kind" [Syria with Billy the Kid]. 10 March 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Pressekonferenz mit JF-Reporter Billy Six" [Press conference with JF Reporter Billy Six] (in German). 6 March 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "Ich hoffe, es gibt Krieg" [I hope there is war]. Junge Freiheit. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Conspiracy Files: Who shot down MH17? – BBC News". BBC News . 25 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  14. ↑ Niewendick, Martin (4 August 2016). "Ungebetener Besuch beim Rechercheverbund "Correctiv"" [Uninvited visit to the “Correctiv” research network] (in German). Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  15. ↑ "British blogger Graham Phillips breaks into a German media outlet and prompts a visit from German police". meduza.io. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  16. 1 2 "Rechte Meinungsmacher und Corona. Die Halbwahrheiten des Billy Six". 1 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2020..
  17. ↑ Till Eckert: Bewertung: größtenteils falsch. Coronavirus: Billy Six filmt angeblich menschenleere Krankenhäuser – ist aber am falschen Ort , Correctiv 3 April 2020, retrieved 6 April 2020.
  18. ↑ "GEORGIEN: Auswandern, solange es noch geht?! #Staatenlos #Steuerfrei #Ungesumpft - ( D., ENG. )". YouTube . 14 August 2021.
  19. ↑ "CPJ alarmed by detention of German freelance reporter in Venezuela". 29 November 2018. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  20. ↑ "Así fue como detuvieron al periodista alemán Billy Six en Paraguaná". Nuevo Día (in Spanish). 27 November 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  21. ↑ "Berlin stays mum on German reporter jailed in Venezuela". DW. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  22. ↑ "German journalist held in Venezuela". 13 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  23. ↑ F. Schuetze, Christopher (14 December 2018). "German Reporter Is Said to Face Espionage Charges in Venezuela". The New York Times . Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  24. 1 2 "Nach Freilassung in Venezuela: Deutscher Billy Six auf dem Weg nach Deutschland" (in German). 17 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  25. ↑ "Lavrov helped secure release of German journalist from jail in Venezuela, ministry said".
  26. ↑ "Lawrow hat sich für Freilassung von Billy Six stark gemacht". 19 March 2019.
  27. ↑ "Russischer Außenminister Lawrow vermittelte im Fall Billy Six" [Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov got involved in the case of Billy Six]. 19 March 2019.
  28. ↑ Hermann, Jonas (18 March 2019). "Fall Billy Six: Venezuela lässt deutschen Reporter frei". Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
  29. ↑ "Venezuela releases German journalist Billy Six from jail". Deutsche Welle . 16 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  30. ↑ "Die Tragödie wird fortgesetzt" [The tragedy continues] (in German). 20 February 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  31. ↑ "Billy Six interview". 13 August 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  32. ↑ "Billy Six Telegram post" . Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  33. ↑ "Billy Six YouTube Channel" . Retrieved 27 April 2024– via YouTube.
  34. ↑ "Billy Six Telegram" . Retrieved 4 May 2024.
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