Ivan Golunov: Russian journalist released from house arrest after drug charges dropped

Case had provoked outrage in public and in the corridors of power

Golunov talks to media yesterday after charges against him were dropped (Reuters)

Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov has been released from house arrest after authorities unexpectedly dropped controversial drugs charges they had been pressing against him.

On leaving police custody, the reporter said he hadn’t believed his release was possible.

“I hope that no-one finds themselves in the situation that I was in,” he said, in front of a crowd of cheering supporters. “It seems that I will have to work an awful lot to justify the trust you put in me.”

In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, interior minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said the police officers involved in his detention would be suspended pending an investigation into their conduct. Even more remarkably, he said he was recommending the suspension of two police generals with immediate jurisdiction over the case. The decision marked an unprecedented U-turn in a case that has provoked considerable outrage – both in public and in the corridors of power.

Mr Golunov was arrested in central Moscow last Thursday and later charged with selling drugs. If found guilty, he faced a jail term of up to 20 years. But his case fell apart almost immediately. Within the first 24 hours, it was revealed photographs of a “drugs laboratory” supposedly taken at Mr Golunov’s home had, in fact, been taken elsewhere, then multiple drugs tests on biological samples provided by the journalist came back negative.

On Saturday evening a judge released the journalist on house arrest pending trial – itself an unlikely victory. Earlier on Monday, there were already strong hints the Kremlin was considering an even more complete retreat. The speaker of Russia’s upper house, Valentina Matviyenko, had laid the groundwork by early afternoon, suggesting that “obvious violations” committed in the course of Mr Golunov’s arrest had “undermined trust in the police”.

However, the journalist’s freedom surprised even those with intimate knowledge of behind-the-scenes negotiations. “I had no idea,” said Galina Timchenko, general director of Meduza, the Riga-based publication to which Mr Golunov contributed. “Such miracles don’t usually happen in Russia.”

The media manager was so confident there would be no immediate developments that she kept to a pre-scheduled appointment at the hairdressers. Speaking with The Independent soon after the news broke – and as a stylist hastily completed her blow dry – Ms Timchenko said a combination of factors had been key to recruiting supporters to his cause. Mr Golunov’s spotless professional reputation, his personality and his down-to-earth manner had all played in his favour.

Ms Timchenko was one of several grandees of Russian journalism who lobbied Mr Golunov’s case within the corridors of power. She banged on the doors of most influential people she knew: in the Interior Ministry, presidential administration and Moscow city government. She was taken aback by the reception she received.

“I have no political agenda, so I can say it as it is,” she said. “The people I spoke to in Moscow city government were genuinely shocked by what happened. They were key in pushing our case to the very top.” That support was even more remarkable given that the Moscow government had been a regular focus of Mr Golunov’s investigative eye.

Riga-based journalist Timchenko shortly before news broke about Golunov’s release (Oliver Carroll)

A reporter with a legendary grasp of documents and detail, Mr Golunov’s investigations have shone light on some of the darkest areas of Russian life and death. He has written about bribes within local government and uncovered corrupt schemes in the payday loan market. But it was his investigations into criminality in the funeral services sector – and the high-placed officials facilitating it – that likely provoked the move to arrest him. That police operation was as ruthless as it was clumsy and ignorant of the law. In the first 23 hours of his detention, Mr Golunov was held illegally in handcuffs, denied food and sleep, he was refused the right to see a lawyer, and was beaten in the course of his arrest.

Ms Timchenko said she was aware Mr Golunov had upset people in the months before his arrest. When, in March, he reported multiple death threats and probable surveillance, she had urged him to be careful, and suggested he lie low for a few weeks outside Russia. But Mr Golunov, in “his usual stubborn way”, said things were “under control”. He said he would stay in Moscow. “I could have insisted he stopped digging and come to Riga,” said Ms Timchenko. “But to do that I’d have needed to tie him up and put him in a suitcase. And I don’t think he’d want to work for me ever again.”

It seems unlikely those who ordered Mr Golunov’s prosecution could have guessed his arrest would prove so controversial and end with disgrace and suspensions. The reporter is not well known beyond liberal circles. And the Russian journalistic community is hardly known for acts of solidarity. But the journalist’s plight provoked an unprecedented multi-level response that surprised almost everyone watching.

Within hours of his detention making the news, hundreds of journalists were picketing the headquarters of Moscow police. Even stars of state propaganda offered messages of support. On Monday, Russia’s leading broadsheets led with the same front page in support of Mr Golunov. Again, this was a historical first and the entire print-run was snapped up before lunchtime.

“I hope with this story something has changed in this profession,” said Ms Timchenko. “I hope that the next time we are offended, attacked or worse, we will respond as one.”