Billy Six

Billy Six (born 24 December 1986) is a German activist, YouTuber, journalist, documentarian, and author. He was a war reporter for German newspaper Junge Freiheit in Egypt in 2011, and since then he has reported in many conflict zones, such as Libya, Syria, Lebanon, and Ukraine.[1][2][3][4] He has been arrested several times in his journalistic career. Six does video reporting for his YouTube channel, where he describes himself as the 'Indiana Jones of journalism'.[5] He has also written for different German newspapers and print magazines, including D Magazine, Junge Freiheit,[6] Magazin Raum & Zeit,[7] Globetrotter,[8] and Preußische Allgemeine.

Billy Six, 2014

Early life

Six was born in 1986 in East Berlin. His professional career started as a business administrator and member in local parliament of Neuenhagen,[9] after graduating from high school in 2006.

Journalistic career

Early in his career, Six covered the refugees in Europe, researching the border area between Greece and Macedonia, at Budapest main station or Freilassing border crossing into Germany. He was traveling a month with the refugees; his results were published by Junge Freiheit TV: ″The Refugee Deception″.[10]

Syria

Six was arrested in Syria by the Syrian army in December 2012 while working for Junge Freiheit.[11] He was held for 12 weeks under local laws, until he was released to Russian diplomats residing in Damascus.[12]

Germany

On 2 August 2016, together with British journalist Graham Phillips, he entered the Berlin office of the investigative journalism organisation Correctiv without permission, accompanying Phillips who demanded an interview with Marcus Bensmann, who was investigating Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Phillips repeatedly accused Bensmann of lying, shouting "Lying press!", while filming the incident, and refusing to leave. Correctiv called the police, however Phillips and Six evaded them.[13][14]

COVID 19

Six played an active role in producing videos related to coronavirus, describing the pandemic as 'pure scaremongering'.[15] A Bayern hospital which Six had filmed, making it out to be empty, reportedly filed charges against him for unauthorised filming.[15] Six had several of his videos on the theme removed from YouTube, and he was further criticised by Corrective for his position on, and reporting on COVID-19.[16]

Apparently having problems in Germany due to his covid activism, Six left for some time to Georgia.[17]

Venezuela

Six was arrested on 17 November 2018 at an inn in Villa Marina, a beach town located in Los Taques Municipality near Punto Fijo, Venezuela, and detained in the intelligence prison of the SEBIN, "El Helicoide" by the Venezuelan secret service DGCIM. He was indicted of espionage, rebellion, and violation of security zones, accused of being a German spy and presented before a military court; his defense declared that the charges "were without foundation".[18][19]

On 13 December 2018, Six began a hunger strike.[20][21][22] The case of Six attracted much controversy; Reporters Without Borders declared that the allegations were unproven and called for his release.[23]

On 16 March 2019, Six was granted conditional permission to leave the country. The conditions included reporting to authorities at 15-day intervals and a ban of media coverage.[23][24]

Ukraine

Six has often worked in Ukraine, covering the War in Donbas (2014–2022). He has also worked extensively on the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) incident, spending time in the city of Lugansk. He was interviewed by the BBC in the documentary Conspiracy Files: Who Shot Down MH17 (May 2016).[25] Six has also given an interview to investigative agency Bellingcat on the theme.[26]

Books

See also

References
  1. "Libysches Bürgerkriegstagebuch XVII". Junge Freiheit. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  2. 18 October 2012 (17 October 2012). "Sicherheit gibt es nirgends". Junge Freiheit. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  3. ""Ich hoffe, es gibt Krieg"". Junge Freiheit. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  4. "Die Tragödie wird fortgesetzt". Junge Freiheit. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  5. https://www.youtube.com/@Billy_Six/videos. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. "Suchergebnisse billy six". Junge Freiheit. 24 December 1986. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  7. "Newsletter raum&zeit". Raum-und-zeit.com. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  8. "Globetrotter Magazin – Das Reisemagazin für Weltentdecker". Globetrottermagazin.ch. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  9. "Vom Straßenrand auf den Acker". MOZ.de. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  10. "JF-TV: Die Flüchtlingslüge (1)". 4 November 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2017 – via YouTube.
  11. Koelbl, Susanne (10 March 2013). "SYRIEN: Billy, das Kind – DER SPIEGEL 11/2013". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  12. "Pressekonferenz mit JF-Reporter Billy Six". Junge Freiheit. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  13. Niewendick, Martin (4 August 2016). "Ungebetener Besuch beim Rechercheverbund "Correctiv"". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  14. "British blogger Graham Phillips breaks into a German media outlet and prompts a visit from German police". Meduza. 3 August 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  15. Katja Belousova: Rechte Meinungsmacher und Corona. Die Halbwahrheiten des Billy Six, ZDF heute 1 April 2020, retrieved 1 April 2020.
  16. 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.
  17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVCBxxIPLvk. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. "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.
  19. Gerardo Morón Sánchez (27 November 2018). "Así fue como detuvieron al periodista alemán Billy Six en Paraguaná". Nuevo Día (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  20. "German journalist held in Venezuela". BBC News. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  21. "Free Billy Six". facebook.com. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  22. Schuetze, Christopher F. (14 December 2018). "German Reporter Is Said to Face Espionage Charges in Venezuela". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  23. "Nach Freilassung in Venezuela: Deutscher Billy Six auf dem Weg nach Deutschland". Der Spiegel (in German). 17 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  24. "Venezuela releases German journalist Billy Six from jail". Deutsche Welle. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  25. "Conspiracy Files: Who shot down MH17? – BBC News". BBC. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  26. "Billy Six interview". 13 August 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
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