Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Police in riot gear clashed with protesters in Moscow on Wednesday

Hundreds of people have been detained at a Moscow rally demanding punishment for police who detained an anti-corruption journalist.

Officers in riot gear clashed with protesters during the unauthorised march in support of Ivan Golunov.

Among those detained at the rally were journalists and Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Mr Golunov was freed on Tuesday after drug-dealing charges against him were dropped following a public outcry.

Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokotsev said officers who had taken part in his detention would be suspended during an investigation.

Three major Russian newspapers had earlier rallied round the freelance journalist in a rare public show of support.

What happened at the rally?

A monitoring group said more than 400 people were detained, although Russian authorities put the number at closer to 200.

Local media said more than 2,500 people had taken part in the rally, although authorities said it was less than half that number.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Opposition leader Alexei Navalny is detained at a rally in support of journalist Ivan Golunov

Protesters waved banners and wore T-shirts with the slogan "I/We are Ivan Golunov" and accused police of using criminal behaviour in arresting the reporter.

A number of journalists at the rally were detained, including protest organiser Ilya Azar of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and several others who were reporting on the demonstration.

A member of staff from German magazine Der Spiegel was held as well as journalists from Vedomosti and Echo Moscow Radio.

Footage of the arrests and of the crowds gathered in the centre of the city were shared on social media.

The march was originally organised to demand Mr Golunov's release but then became a call for those responsible for his initial detention to be held accountable.

The interior minister admitted that Mr Golunov's guilt had "not been proven", and that an internal inquiry had been launched.

"I believe that the rights of every citizen, regardless of his profession, must be protected," he asserted.

Mr Navalny tweeted that the government had become very worried by the "fantastic and unanimous expression of solidarity in the Golunov case" and was now setting about destroying that solidarity and intimidating and jailing those who persevered.

What happened to Ivan Golunov?

Mr Golunov, 36, had been working for the Latvia-based independent news website Meduza, among others. The website was established by Russian journalists from Lenta.ru, who formed their own outlet abroad after a takeover by a new pro-Kremlin owner.

His reporting included coverage of the loan shark business, the earnings of the family of Moscow's deputy mayor, the unusually high cost of public works in the Russian capital, and the alleged censorship of journalists.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ivan Golunov arrest: Freed Russian journalist is met by crowd

Mr Golunov was on his way to meet another journalist in Moscow last week when he was stopped and searched by police officers.

Officers said they had discovered the drug mephedrone in his bag, and more drugs and weighing scales in a search of his home. Reports said he was beaten during his arrest.

The journalist's lawyers and press freedom activists said the drugs had been planted in order to silence the investigative journalist. Much of Russia's media is controlled by the state and Russia is ranked 83rd out of 100 countries for press freedom by Freedom House.

Supporters immediately claimed the journalist was innocent and a victim of fabricated drug charges, which activists say are used against opposition figures and human rights activists by the Russian state. </s> At least 100 people gathered in central Moscow Friday evening to hold single pickets against the arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov. Golunov, an investigative reporter for the Meduza news website, was detained Thursday afternoon on drug trafficking charges which his colleagues say were “persecution” for his reports. Russia’s independent trade union of journalists on Friday called for members to hold single pickets in support of Golunov outside police headquarters in their cities.

news Russian Investigative Journalist Detained in Moscow on Drug Charges Read more

A line of people formed outside the Interior Ministry headquarters Friday evening as people waited to hold single pickets against Golunov's detention. Police detained local deputy Viktor Kotov and RBC news website employee Vladimir Kheifets at the picket site. The two are still in detention. Three other people were later detained, the police-monitoring OVD-Info website reported.

Around 200 people are protesting against Golunov‘s detention pic.twitter.com/nYwpNFu0si — Pavel Lokshin (@lokshin) June 7, 2019

Up to 15 protesters had been detained earlier while holding single pickets there, Russian media reported. Those detained included journalists Anna Narinskaya, Alexander Gorbachev, Alexander Ryklin, Ilya Azar, Grigory Tumanov and Pavel Kanygin, the MBKh news website reported. Alexander Polivanov, former deputy head of Meduza, was also detained. Popular Russian satirist Victor Shenderovich, who was one of the detained, told The Moscow Times it was “vital” for as many people as possible to voice their anger with Golunov’s arrest. “We all know that the charges are absurd, and we can’t let them get away with this quietly,” he added. Video shared on social media shows Shenderovich's detention.

Задержания у Петровки 38 pic.twitter.com/FQK8Lgxq1J — Snegov (@stay___free) June 7, 2019

All of the individuals who were detained were released shortly after, the police-monitoring OVD-Info website reported. Speaking outside the picket shortly after he was released, Shenderovich said he believes that the releases were linked to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that began on Thursday. “They must have realized that our arrests could overshadow the forum, so they decided to quickly let us out.” </s> More than 20 arrested at Moscow protest after reporter freed

MOSCOW (AP) — Police and hundreds of demonstrators are facing off in central Moscow at an unauthorized march against police abuse in the wake of the high-profile detention of a Russian journalist. More than 20 demonstrators have been detained, according to a monitoring group.

The rally on Wednesday comes one day after a stunning police decision to drop charges against Ivan Golunov, who was charged last week with drug dealing. After a public outburst of protest, including by three of Russia's most respected newspapers, the case was dropped on Monday for lack of evidence. Police claimed to have found drugs in Golunov's apartment.

The OVD-Info group that monitors political arrests said more than 20 people were detained at the march. Associated Press journalists saw opposition leader Alexei Navalny being seized. </s> Police detained hundreds of demonstrators who turned out for a march in Moscow on June 12 to maintain pressure on authorities following the release of Ivan Golunov, an investigative reporter who was arrested on a drug charge supporters said was fabricated. Opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and several journalists were among those detained at the rally in the center of the Russian capital. </s> MOSCOW (AP) — The Latest on a Russian journalist arrested on drug charges (all times local):

Russia's interior minister says all charges against an investigative journalist arrested on suspicion of drug dealing have been dropped.

Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said in a statement on 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 three senior police officials and to investigate others.

Golunov was jailed on 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.

The speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament has raised concerns about a drug dealing case against a prominent investigative journalist.

Valentina Matviyenko, who is Russia's third most senior official after the president and prime minister, on Tuesday described the criminal inquiry into Ivan Golunov as "a really bad story." She said that she spoke to the prosecutor general who promised to take the case under his personal control.

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, according to his lawyer. He was transferred to house arrest following a public outpouring of support, but he still faces drug dealing charges. </s> Russian Journalist Ivan Golunov Is Freed, As Drug Charges Are Dropped

Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov is now free, after Russia's interior affairs ministry said it would drop drug charges against him. Golunov's freedom was announced by his employer, Meduza.

Golunov had been held under house arrest since Saturday. His arrest last Thursday triggered a public outcry — and accusations that police had fabricated the case against him.

In a surprise move, authorities said on Tuesday that there isn't enough evidence to back up the charges against Golunov, 36. The journalist's arrest last Thursday shocked many in Russia, especially as he was accused of being involved in a drug ring.

In a statement announcing Golunov's freedom, Meduza's leader thanked what they called "an unprecedented international solidarity campaign" of journalists and others who are committed to free speech.

"Together, we made the unbelievable happen: we stopped the criminal prosecution of an innocent man. Thank you!" the statement said.

The criminal case against Golunov had several irregularities. During his detention, reports emerged that police officers had beaten Golunov while in custody. And via his employer, he said the "evidence" that was allegedly gathered from his apartment — including various drugs and weight scales — had actually been planted there.

Explaining the decision to release Golunov, Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev said that after numerous tests, "a decision has been made to drop the criminal case against journalist Ivan Golunov for lack of evidence proving his involvement in the crime in question. He will be released from house arrest today, and the charges against him will be dropped."

The announcement also said an internal investigation will be conducted into the police officers who detained the journalist. Those officers have now been suspended from their official duties, Kolokoltsev said.

While the news of Golunov's arrest came as a surprise to many, word of Tuesday's abrupt reversal came as a shock. Another journalist in Moscow, Alexey Kovalev, asked via Twitter, "Cops who framed him will be investigated. Am I sleeping? Did this really happen?"

Those who spoke out against Golunov's detention included the Committee to Protect Journalists, which noted Russia's "long history of politically motivated allegations against reporters."

Despite the victory, Meduza says the work to prevent anyone else being treated in a similar way has only just begun. And it announced that its plans for a pro- Golunov rally, which had run into official delays, has now received the official go-ahead. That rally is scheduled for next Sunday, June 16.

As Golunov's former colleague Leonid Bershidsky writes for Bloomberg, Golunov is a well-respected journalist whose work has mostly dealt with exposing corruption at the lower levels of Russian life rather than taking on the heads of its power structure. He has reported on landfills, loan sharks and city bureaucracies.

But that changed a bit on Thursday, Bershidsky says, when Golunov published a story about Moscow's funeral industry "which implicated a number of law enforcement officials, including some officers in the FSB secret police, in running a protection racket."

Later that day, Golunov was detained in public and taken back to his apartment, where he was confronted with drug paraphernalia.

His case set off alarm bells in Moscow's journalism circles, Bershidsky writes, including the fear that "anyone could be next in line." </s> The Latest on a Russian journalist arrested on drug charges (all times local):

Russia's interior minister says all charges against an investigative journalist arrested on suspicion of drug dealing have been dropped.

Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said in a statement on 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 on 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.

This version corrects that Kolokoltsev said he plans to seek the dismissal of two senior police officials, not three.

The speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament has raised concerns about a drug dealing case against a prominent investigative journalist.

Valentina Matviyenko, who is Russia's third most senior official after the president and prime minister, on Tuesday described the criminal inquiry into Ivan Golunov as "a really bad story." She said that she spoke to the prosecutor general who promised to take the case under his personal control.

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, according to his lawyer. He was transferred to house arrest following a public outpouring of support, but he still faces drug dealing charges. </s> Russian police announced on Tuesday they are dropping charges against the investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, an extraordinary reversal by authorities in the face of a popular outcry over his arrest on drug charges last week.

The abrupt turnaround by Russian authorities came amid mounting protests over Golunov's detention, which has been widely criticized by his supporters, including an exceptional show of solidarity by the country's journalists and even pro-Kremlin commentators.

The decision to drop the case came a day before a large protest was planned to take place in Moscow.

Golunov, a prominent reporter for the popular independent news site, Meduza, who has written on corruption and shady business practices among officials and organized crime, was arrested last Friday in Moscow. Police claimed they had found bags of the drug mephedrone on Golunov's person and during a subsequent search of his home, and charged him with intention to distribute, an offense that carries a potential 10 to 20 year prison sentence.

The case, though, quickly seemed to unravel. Golunov accused the police of planting the drugs on him and then beating him up during questioning, and police later admitted that photos they had made public, which suggested Golunov had a drug lab at his home, were misleading.

On Tuesday, authorities seemed to yield to the criticism. Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, announced in a video statement that the case against Golunov was being closed after analysis found no sign he had committed a crime. Golunov would be released from house arrest on Tuesday, he said.

Kolokoltsev also said that he was firing the Moscow police chief who was overseeing Golunov’s case, as well as the head of the city’s narcotics division. The officers who had arrested Golunov had been suspended and would be investigated, he said.

The Investigative Committee, Russia's equivalent of the FBI, also announced it would examine the circumstances around Golunov's arrest.

It was a remarkable retreat for Russian law enforcement in the face of popular pressure. In a country where the acquittal rate in courts is less than 1%, instances of high profile cases being closed are essentially unheard of and, even in ordinary cases, charges are rarely dropped.

“I’m happy, I’m crying. We understand completely that this happened thanks to the efforts of hundreds and thousands of people. Huge gratitude to all of them,” Galina Timchenko, the general director of Meduza, told the liberal channel, TV Rain. "We all together have done the unbelievable: stopped the criminal prosecution of an innocent person."

The scale and breadth of the criticisms in support of an independent journalist have been almost unheard of in today’s Russia. The country’s three leading independent newspapers on Tuesday ran identical front pages in support of Golunov. Over two dozen state media journalists signed a letter calling for him to be freed. Celebrities, including those normally who remain outside politics, posted messages in support.

In Moscow and other cities, hundreds of protesters have taken part in demonstrations all week calling for Golunov's release.

Initially the Kremlin had suggested it favored the prosecution, pointing to the discredited photos as proof there may be grounds for the case. But as criticism mounted, there were signs that the Kremlin was changing course, and prominant pro-government anchors started to criticize the police's handling of the case.

President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary on Monday set the tone, saying that “mistakes” are sometimes made—an admission almost never heard from top Russian officials.

Most Russian observers believe the Kremlin had no direct stake in Golunov’s arrest, which most suspected had been brought about by mid-level officials or others involved in regional rackets that he most frequently wrote about. The prominent anti-corruption campaigner, Alexey Navalny on Tuesday published a report in which he claimed an FSB officer involved in a corrupt attempt to take over a funeral business had targeted Golunov for investigating it.

But the case struck a nerve in Russia as emblematic of the lawlessness and corruption in the country’s law enforcement and officials that has flourished under Putin. The case's closure was celebrated by many as evidence that Russia's civil society has the strength to force a response from authorities and as a victory over official unaccountability.

The celebration even came from inside government. On Facebook, Russia’s normally aggressive foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova wrote that it was “the best day” and that she was "moved to tears.” </s> The Latest on a Russian journalist arrested on drug charges (all times local):

Russia's interior minister says all charges against an investigative journalist arrested on suspicion of drug dealing have been dropped.

Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said in a statement on 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 three senior police officials and to investigate others.

Golunov was jailed on 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.

The speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament has raised concerns about a drug dealing case against a prominent investigative journalist.

Valentina Matviyenko, who is Russia's third most senior official after the president and prime minister, on Tuesday described the criminal inquiry into Ivan Golunov as "a really bad story." She said that she spoke to the prosecutor general who promised to take the case under his personal control.

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, according to his lawyer. He was transferred to house arrest following a public outpouring of support, but he still faces drug dealing charges.
Russian authorities detain hundreds of protesters, including Novaya Gazeta journalist and protest organizer Ilya Azar and other reporters, at an "unauthorized march" in Moscow demanding punishment for police who detained anti-corruption journalist Ivan Golunov. Golunov's charges were dropped and he was released yesterday at which time Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said some officers who had taken part in his detention were suspended pending an investigation.