Russia’s interior minister says all charges against a prominent investigative journalist arrested on suspicion of drug dealing have been dropped.
Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said in a statement Tuesday that the accusations against Ivan Golunov “have not been proven.”
Kolokoltsev said Golunov has been released from house arrest, and he intends to seek the dismissal of two senior police officials and to investigate others.
Golunov was jailed Thursday and put under house arrest on Saturday. He denied possessing drugs and the circumstances of his case aroused suspicion among rights activists the journalist had been framed.
In a show of rare solidarity, Russia’s three major newspapers on Monday put out nearly identical front pages to support the detained journalist.
Kommersant, Vedomosti and RBK, among the most respected daily newspapers in the country, published a joint editorial under the headline “I am/We are Ivan Golunov,” calling for a transparent probe into his case.
Golunov, who works for the independent website Meduza, was beaten and kept in custody for 12 hours without a lawyer after he was stopped by police in Moscow on Thursday. He was transferred to house arrest on Saturday following a public outpouring of support.
The papers dismissed evidence presented in the case against the journalist.