{
  "id": 18450697,
  "title": "Court of Appeal gives full written reasons for acquitting content creator Lev Panfilov",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/06/court-of-appeal-gives-full-written-reasons-for-acquitting-content",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-06T05:50:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Straits Times",
    "slug": "straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/court-of-appeal-gives-full-written-reasons-for-acquitting-content-creator-lev-panfilov"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Court of Appeal in Singapore issued a detailed 92-page judgment on November 5, 2023, acquitting online content creator Lev Panfilov of rape and sexual assault charges. The decision was based on the unresolved inconsistencies in the testimony given by the alleged victim, who accused Panfilov of violent sexual assault on January 12, 2021.\n\nDuring their meeting at Panfilov's condominium unit, the woman and Panfilov discussed writing a script for about 1½ hours. She then lodged a police report on January 18, alleging rape and sexual assault. Panfilov claimed they had consensual sex, suggesting her complaint was due to his subsequent \"ghosting,\" or loss of communication.\n\nThe Court of Appeal weighed the inconsistencies in the testimony against the \"cornerstone of our criminal jurisprudence\" – the principle that when evidence could lead to two equally reasonable outcomes, a reasonable doubt is established. Neither the woman's account of the alleged assault nor Panfilov's account of consensual sex appeared more credible than the other, leading to his acquittal on September 2, 2023.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}