Joe Rogan's podcast guest Charlie Walker recounts being detained in Russia for nearly a month - They kept asking "Are you a spy?"

Joe Rogan (left) and Charlie Walker (right) [Center image via skynews.com.au; other images via PowerfulJRE on YouTube]

In a recent appearance on UFC commentator Joe Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Charlie Walker shared the traumatic experience of being detained in Russia for almost a month. Walker initially intended to explore the Russian Arctic, but things didn't turn out as he'd planned.

The British explorer was arrested by the local police and subsequently accused of being a foreign journalist who photographed military sites in the country without permission.

According to Walker, due to the ongoing war with Ukraine, Russia introduced a new law under which journalists could be put behind bars for 15 years for "spreading fake news about the military," which was applicable at the time. Although he was found guilty, Walker's punishment wasn't nearly as severe.

He was fined $70 and banned from Russia for five years. Before being deported, Walker was taken to a detention center in Yakutsk, which he compared to a prison, and had to stay there for about a month. During that time, guards allegedly referred to him as a "spy" and tried to make him admit the same.

On the latest episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Walker said:

"They kept on saying to me are you a spy and don't fight my country, you know. They would also on their phones look up phrases in english and then kind of chant them back at me, 'You are a spy, Walker' and so it was it was a scary time..."

He added:

"The longer I'm here, the more chance there is that either they'll find some of these these SD cards or my diary or that some ambitious policeman or bureaucrat will decide to pick up my case again to retry me under the criminal offense. They'd made up most of their evidence anyway, it's no stretch to think that they could pin on me the fake news journalist thing and put me away for 15 years."

Watch the clip below:

Catch the full episode of JRE with Charlie Walker below:

Months after controversy surrounding Joe Rogan's podcast, Spotify announces formation of Safety Advisory Council

Following the controversy and backlash surrounding Joe Rogan's podcast for allegedly spreading misinformation about COVID-19, Spotify has formed a safety advisory council to address harmful content on the platform.

Neil Young has asked Spotify to remove his music from their service, he wrote in a letter to his manager "they can have Joe (Rogan) or Young" and "not both". This is in response to them allowing Joe Rogan to broadcast misinformation about Covid-19. Legend 👏👏👏. https://t.co/xNuntWYahH

In an official statement, the Swedish audio streaming and media services provider revealed its decision to be "more transparent" about its safety efforts by previously publishing platform rules and now forming the Spotify Safety Advisory Council.

The members of the council are "individuals and organizations around the world with deep expertise in areas that are key to navigating the online safety space." Their focus will be to help the platform "evolve its policies and products in a safe way" without harming creator expression.

Excited to have joined Spotify’s Safety Advisory council.

I’m looking forward to helping the amazing Trust and Safety team there as they continue to develop policies and products, especially as they consider child safety, regulation, mental health and digital literacy. twitter.com/SpotifyNews/st…

However, the platform has maintained that the implementation of a Safety Advisory Council didn't take place because of the earlier backlash surrounding Joe Rogan or any other individual.