RELEASE OF RUSSIAN JOURNALIST IVAN GOLOUNOV

"The decision to stop the prosecution against Ivan Golunov was taken because of insufficient charges against him," said Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.

The Russian Minister of the Interior has announced that the case against journalist Ivan Golunov has been lifted due to insufficient charges against him. An internal investigation was initiated to assess the actions of the police officers who arrested him. The minister will seek the dismissal of two senior police officers in this case.

On Monday, three Russian dailies (Kommersant, Vedomosti and RBK) showed their support for investigative journalist Ivan Golunov by publishing a "one" commune and a platform in his favor :

"I am, we are Ivan Golounov". This movement had spread to the point of pushing habitual supporters of the Kremlin, or ordinary silent figures on political issues, to take a stand for the imprisoned journalist.

"Today, we are trying to lock up a disturbing journalist," Konstantin Khabenski, an actor, said Monday from the scene of a film festival in Sochi.

If that succeeds, nothing says that we will not be tomorrow, considered disturbing. "

This event is the latest episode in a case that provoked a wave of indignation in Russia.

The investigative journalist of the independent online media Meduza, Ivan Golunov had already published several investigations on corruption in Moscow, including the town hall of the city. Ivan Golounov was arrested on Thursday, June 6, and placed under house arrest on Saturday night by a judge. According to the police, he tried to sell "a significant amount" of cocaine and mephedrone, a synthetic drug.

The journalist rejects these accusations, believing that they are related to his investigations.

On Saturday, a Moscow judge finally released him under judicial supervision and sentenced him to a residence "for a period of two months".

Ivan Golounov has always rejected police accusations from the beginning. In a joint statement, three Russian newspapers say that "the evidence of guilt of Ivan Golunov, provided by the investigators, is not convincing and that the circumstances of his arrest make it very doubtful that it took place with a violation of law". "Not excluding" that the arrest of the journalist is "related to his professional activities", the media "require a detailed audit of the actions of the police involved in the arrest of Ivan Golounov [...] and maximum transparency during the course of the investigation ". They also warn that they will follow "the investigation carefully" on this file.

Moreover, Meduza, who believes that his journalist is "persecuted because of his investigative work," also opened free access to the works of Ivan Golunov, which can therefore be read in English and shared by all without asking permission to the site

Prosecutions against Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, accused of drug trafficking, have been dropped. He will be released from house arrest later today, Tuesday, June 11,

The minister added that an internal investigation was underway. The police who had arrested the journalist were suspended during the investigation to assess their actions. Vladimir Kolokoltsev also announced that he would ask Vladimir Putin to dismiss two senior police officers in the framework of this case.

Justice will now have to assess "the legality of the actions of the police officers who arrested" the journalist in Moscow.

In addition, two senior police officers will be fired. They are General of Police Andrei Puchkov, Head of Law Enforcement in the West District of the Russian Capital, and General Yuri Deviatkin, who heads the Moscow branch of the Anti-Trafficking Department. drug, according to the same source.

Is the sacrifice of senior officials a sign of the fragility of power?

Commenting on this news on her Facebook account, the spokesperson of the Russian diplomacy Maria Zakharova wrote "The best day. [Touched] to tears. Happiness".

Since the arrest of Ivan Golunov, many confreres, including the official media, but also artists and politicians, have supported him. The reporter's arrest provoked a series of protests across several Russian cities. More than 66,000 people signed a petition to demand the release of the journalist on the Change.org website. In addition, nearly 6,000 journalists signed the open letter requesting his release which was published by the union of media employees.

"This is an unprecedented victory for civil society, given almost dead, confronted with an ever more repressive legislative arsenal, and managed to win in just a few days".

Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld