The Ministry of Internal Affairs asks to recover 1.5 million rubles from ex-policemen who planted drugs on Golunov

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia filed a lawsuit with a request to recover 1.5 million rubles from the former police officers who planted drugs on journalist Ivan Golunov. Lawyer Sergey Badamshin reports this in his Telegram channel.

In December 2022, the court ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to pay Golunov 1.5 million rubles as compensation for moral damage. In July 2023, it became known that the journalist had received money.

In 2019, Golunov, who then worked as a special correspondent for Meduza, was detained on charges of possession and attempted sale of drugs that were allegedly found in his apartment in Moscow. Golunov said that he was given drugs; later it was confirmed. After a wide public campaign in his support, the charges against the journalist were dropped, and he was released from custody. Golunov believes that the case against him was commissioned and was revenge for his journalistic investigations of corruption, but the client was not found.

Ivan Golunov filed a lawsuit alleging the use of violence by the police. Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Western District of Moscow were dismissed from the police. In May 2021, the Moscow City Court sentenced five former policemen involved in the arrest of Golunov to five to 12 years in prison, and each had to pay 1 million rubles to the victim. In March 2022, the court slightly shortened their prison terms.

In June 2023, the court replaced the prison sentence of Konovalov, Umetbaev, and Sergaliyev with forced labor. Last November, the court released Konovalov early.