Russian officials dropped charges against a prominent anti-corruption journalist following an outcry from domestic and international media outlets and press freedom advocates.
“Following biological, forensic, fingerprints and genetic tests, a decision has been made to drop a criminal case against journalist Ivan Golunov for lack of evidence proving his involvement in the crime in question,” Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev told reporters Tuesday, per state-run TASS. “He will be released from house arrest today, charges against him will be dropped.”
Golunov’s arrest in Moscow attracted international attention last week after the reporter, who works for a Latvia-based media outlet called Meduza, was arrested on drug charges. The arrest took place shortly after he filed a story involving corruption by Moscow police and officers at FSB — the successor agency of the KGB. Law enforcement claimed to have found drugs at his apartment.
His arrest prompted an outbreak of protests from journalists, as major Russian outlets coordinated to run identical front pages expressing solidarity with the detained journalist. They also “effectively boycotted coverage of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, traditionally [Russian President Vladimir Putin’s] favorite international event of the year,” Golunov’s former editor, Leonid Bershidsky, observed in a Bloomberg column.
The Interior Ministry defended the arrest on Friday by publishing photos of drug paraphernalia purportedly taken in Golunov’s apartment, but they subsequently admitted that nine of the 10 photos were taken “in the course of operational activities and investigative actions” conducted elsewhere. Kolokoltsev announced, while dropping the charges, that he has advised Putin to fire two Interior Ministry officials in response to the case.
“I believe that the rights of every citizen must be protected regardless of his or her profession,” he explained.
It’s an unusual victory for a journalist under government pressure in a country that “doesn’t have a reverse gear,” as one of Golunov’s colleagues at Meduza put it. Bershidsky suggested that Putin saw an opportunity to burnish his image.
“Putin is worried about a steep drop in his ratings and eager to show that he is happy to side with people who protest injustice — as long as they don’t demand his overthrow,” he said. “So far, the protests have remained within the loyalist framework, and a good Czar has a chance to show magnanimity.”
