Moscow City Hall approves June 16 demonstration to support Ivan Golunov

Moscow City Hall has granted its approval for a demonstration in support of Meduza correspondent Ivan Golunov, who was accused of attempted drug sales before being cleared of all charges on Tuesday. The event is scheduled to take place on Sakharov Prospect in central Moscow between 1:00 and 3:00 PM on June 16.

The application for the demonstration was submitted by Moskovsky Komsomolets Editor-in-Chief and Moscow Union of Journalists head Pavel Gusev along with Yekaterina Vinokurova, an RT journalist and government human rights official. Gusev said he had been observing the “preparations for an unsanctioned demonstration” on June 12 “with alarm”; he saw the plan as an “attempt to cause a schism in civil society” and proposed a demonstration for another day.

A march for Ivan Golunov’s freedom was initially set for midday on June 12. Its organizers made clear that they did not intend to request approval for the event from the Moscow municipal government, leading City Hall to submit a complaint to local prosecutors. The Libertarian Party and the Union of Journalists had previously submitted a request for approval to hold a demonstration on June 23. The organizers of the various events have not yet commented on the various marches now scheduled for the coming days.