Ex-cop suspected of staging ‘Meduza’ journalist Ivan Golunov’s false arrest wants prosecutors to reopen the case
Former Moscow police officer Igor Lyakhovets, who investigators suspect organized the false arrest of Meduza correspondent Ivan Golunov last summer, is asking prosecutors to reopen the drug dealing case against him.
Moscow police officers arrested Ivan Golunov on June 6, 2019, on suspicion of drug dealing. He maintained his innocence and said the drugs were planted on him. After five days of public campaigning and protests, the case was closed and Golunov was released from house arrest. In January 2020, the now-former police officers who arrested Golunov were themselves arrested and charged with abuse of power, falsifying evidence, and drug possession.
“I am now writing letters to the Attorney General’s Office exposing violations and requesting the reopening of the criminal proceedings against Golonov, which, in my opinion, were unlawfully and unduly terminated,” Lyakhovets told the Moscow City Court, during a July 22 appeal hearing on extending his arrest.
Lyakhovets said that in his opinion, “there weren’t enough investigative actions to reasonably allow for such a decision to be made.”
On July 15, Ivan Golunov filed a lawsuit against the five police officers who arrested him in the summer of 2019 and planted drugs on him in an attempt to frame him for felony offenses. Golunov is seeking 5 million rubles ($70,500) in damages. The lawsuit will be considered within the trial against the former officers.