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> 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> 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> Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov made his career writing the news, revealing corruption among Moscow’s elite for the news site Meduza. But he became the subject of headlines himself last week, after he was arrested on trumped-up charges of drug trafficking that could have landed him 20 years in prison.

After an outcry and scrutiny from Russia’s remaining independent media, authorities eventually conceded a lack of evidence on Tuesday. When he was released that day from house arrest, activists hailed it as a rare victory amid a sea of repression.

But they also say he should never have been arrested in the first place. Golunov was stopped on the street in Moscow on June 6, handcuffed and bundled into a police car. Police then strip-searched him and allegedly beat him. They then said they had found a packet of methamphetamine in his bag, and charged him with conspiracy to traffic the drug. His disappearance initially went unreported, and when his lawyer was finally able to see him after more than 12 hours, Golunov said he had not been allowed to eat or sleep. By the time the journalist appeared on June 8 in a Moscow court, where he was sentenced to two months of house arrest awaiting trial, doctors suspected he had a concussion and broken ribs.

Cracks soon started to appear in the official story, however. Photos purporting to show a drug lab in Golunov’s apartment were removed from a government website after his journalist colleagues established they were taken elsewhere. On the streets, meanwhile, a wave of support was growing. One-person vigils—which, unlike other forms of protest in Russia, don’t require a permit—were held on a rolling basis, despite police intimidation. Video footage posted on Twitter showed crowds of supporters lining up to “change shifts” with a lone picketer. And on June 10, three of Russia’s biggest newspapers each carried the same front-page headline: .

“We have grounds to believe Golunov is being persecuted because of his journalistic activity,” his editors at Meduza said in a statement. Ivan Kolpakov, editor in chief of Meduza, tells TIME that he believes Golunov’s ordeal was prompted by one particular piece he was working on as recently as last week.

Golunov might be a free man now, but intimidation of journalists is common in Russia, which is ranked 149th out of 180 countries for press freedom by Reporters Without Borders. “Ivan’s arrest is just a part of the Russian system,” Kolpakov says.

But in this case, Golunov received an unexpected wave of support. His incarceration became a test of solidarity among Russian journalists, who rallied to his defense. In front of the country and the world, they effectively dismantled the police narrative. Even some reporters in the state-run media stood up for Golunov. Eventually, the Russian Interior Ministry stepped in to order his release. The officers involved in his arrest have been suspended.

Nevertheless, their tactics revealed something about the way public discourse is stifled in Russia today. “The easiest way to put anyone in prison in Russia is to plant drugs in his bag,” Kolpakov told TIME shortly before Golunov was released. “It means that he immediately goes to prison. It means that his reputation is immediately destroyed. It means it’s going to be a dirty case.” In Russia, reporters routinely face intimidation, and most newspapers and TV channels avoid criticizing powerful figures in politics and business.

But Golunov was determined to do his work. “I think he had a lot of powerful enemies,” Kolpakov says. “I would say many people were not pleased by what he wrote. Many people did not want to appear in his pieces, because it’s the easiest way for a corrupt person to become famous.”

In a recent story, Golunov had presented evidence to show the deputy mayor of Moscow had embezzled public money, with which he and his family were able to buy nine penthouses in the city.

And Gulonov wasn’t a stranger to receiving threats, either. “He was threatened in April 2018 by a group of people he wrote about, because of one of his articles,” Kolpakov tells TIME. “He was threatened systematically and I’ve heard that a couple of months ago he also got some other threats from the same people.”

The most recent threats, Kolpakov says, weren’t about a published piece, but an-as-yet unpublished investigation Golunov was working on for Meduza

In a stroke of luck, Golunov filed that story just hours before his arrest. Now, Meduza is preparing to publish it. His arrest virtually guarantees that investigation will reach a wider audience than ever before. “He is a lucky guy,” Kolpakov says. “For the first time in his life, he didn’t miss his deadline.” </s> Colleagues and friends of detained journalist Ivan Golunov, at Russian Internal Ministry building in Moscow

Colleagues and friends of detained journalist Ivan Golunov, at Russian Internal Ministry building in Moscow

A RUSSIAN INVESTIGATIVE journalist facing drugs charges in a case supporters have denounced as a frame-up was taken to hospital today after complaining of being beaten in police custody.

Ivan Golunov, a Moscow-based reporter for Meduza independent news site has been charged with attempted dealing in designer drug mephedrone and cocaine.

Supporters and his defence team said he had received death threats and suggested the drugs were planted to punish him over his reporting. Rights groups Amnesty said there was evidence that the authorities were fabricating drugs charges to shut up their critics.

After his detention on Thursday, Golunov told a representative of Russia’s presidential rights council, which advises Vladimir Putin, that police had punched him and stood on his chest,

His lawyer Pavel Chikov said that paramedics suspected he had broken ribs and concussion. A paramedic who examined him told Interfax news agency that he had numerous grazes to his chest, injuries to his ribs and a suspected head injury while police have denied he was beaten.

The journalist was due to attend court today for a ruling on whether to hold him in custody but police said that they called an ambulance after he complained of feeling unwell and he was taken to a hospital for examination.

Golunov’s detention has prompted widespread outrage and supporters and journalists have held protests outside the police headquarters and the court where his case was due to be held.

Meduza posted photographs of people holding placards in support of Golunov in cities in Russia and abroad.

The 36-year-old has investigated high-level corruption among Moscow officials and Meduza said it believed he was being persecuted for his journalistic work.

Meduza general director Galina Timchenko told journalists outside court that Golunov had received death threats over his reporting.

“Ivan received threats. Two months ago they became almost daily,” she said. She had failed to persuade Golunov to contact police, she added.

“They said ‘we’ll bury you forever’,” she said.

Golunov has investigated everything from Russia’s shady funeral industry to corruption in Moscow city hall.

“We have reasons to believe that Golunov is being persecuted for his journalistic work,” Meduza said in an earlier statement.

The respected site is based in EU member Latvia to avoid Russian censorship, but some journalists, including Golunov live in Russia.

One of his lawyers, Dmitry Dzhulai, told AFP it appeared the drugs had been planted on Golunov.

Moscow police admitted that they published on their website photographs of drugs paraphernalia that they captioned as showing the crime scene but were not taken at Golunov’s flat.

“Everything indicates that the authorities are planting drugs on their targets to shut them up with a jail sentence,” said Natalia Zvyagina, director of Amnesty International’s branch in Russia.

A presidential rights council member who visited Golunov in detention on Friday, Yeva Merkacheva, said in a statement that Golunov had shown her scratches on his back that he said were from police dragging him.

He also told her he was twice punched in the head and that the police also stood on his chest and that “he hadn’t slept for 24 hours and so he feels bad. He also hasn’t eaten”, she said.

Russian journalists and rights groups see the case as an example of the persecution of independent reporters, with many saying Golunov was not known to take drugs.

Outside the Moscow court where Golunov was due to appear Saturday, several journalists held up placards with slogans including “I am the journalist Ivan Golunov. Arrest me too.”

Police detained three people, an AFP video journalist saw.

Yesterday, dozens of journalists protested against Golunov’s detention outside Moscow police headquarters and were themselves briefly detained.

Reporters Without Borders warned his arrest could mark “a significant escalation in the persecution” of independent journalists in Russia. </s> A Russian investigative journalist arrested on controversial drug charges has been severely beaten in custody, his lawyer has said.

A doctor who inspected Ivan Golunov said he may have suffered broken ribs, concussion and a haematoma.

Golunov, a reporter for the independent Meduza news website, was arrested on drug charges on Friday. Colleagues and friends believe he is being targeted for his work on state corruption and business interests.

Two separate teams of doctors suggested Golunov be taken to hospital for x-rays but police investigators refused. The injuries were sustained while Golunov was in custody, his lawyer Dmitri Dzhulai confirmed by text message.

Golunov was later taken to a Moscow hospital, several Russian outlets reported. He had earlier complained police punched and kicked him about the head and chest because he refused to sign a police report before he had access to a lawyer.

He was formally charged on Saturday with drug possession with intent to sell, a crime that carries a prison sentence of between 10 and 20 years. Police said that they found 3.56 grams of the clubbing drug mephedrone in a backpack belonging to Golunov and 5.42 grams of cocaine in an apartment he purportedly rented in Moscow. Golunov has said the drugs were planted.

Hundreds of people protested against his arrest outside Moscow’s police headquarters on Friday, holding signs in support reading: “My name is Ivan Golunov. I am a journalist. Arrest me, too.”

Police had also demanded Golunov sign a confession, Dzhulai said. Russian investigators often put suspects in criminal cases under pressure in order to sobtain confessions, which makes it far easier to secure a conviction.

Police have also tried to limit the public flow of information about the case, demanding that Golunov’s lawyers sign non-disclosure agreements. They have refused.

Golunov has investigated family members of a Moscow deputy mayor who amassed a fortune in real estate, predatory lenders who purchased apartments in Moscow, plans to ship Moscow’s waste to the regions, and the efforts of a senior official’s son to corner Russia’s funeral market.

He had been receiving threats before his arrest, his editors said.

“Ivan Golunov is a prominent critic and his investigations into government corruption clearly did not go down well with the authorities. It seems he is now paying the price,” said Natalia Zviagina, the director of Amnesty International’s Russia office . “The circumstances of Ivan Golunov’s detention sound dubious and follow a depressingly familiar pattern.” </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> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Police moved in and made arrests as protesters gathered outside the court

A Russian investigative journalist, Ivan Golunov, has been arrested in the capital Moscow and charged with trying to illegally sell drugs.

He was placed under house arrest after a court hearing. Earlier, he was given a medical examination amid reports he had been injured during the arrest.

The reporter for Latvia-based news site Meduza was detained on Thursday.

His lawyer says drugs were planted on him, an accusation the Russian authorities deny.

Meduza says Mr Golunov, 36, is being "being persecuted because of his journalistic activity".

What do we know about his arrest?

The court rejected a request by investigators to keep him in custody.

He reporter had been on his way to meet another journalist on Thursday when he was stopped and searched by officers.

They say they found the synthetic drug mephedrone in his rucksack, and that a later search of his flat turned up more drugs and some scales - indicating that he was involved in dealing.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Investigative journalist Ivan Golunov was arrested on Thursday

The journalist was officially charged on Saturday morning with attempting illegally to produce, sell or pass on drugs.

Police released photos which they said showed drug paraphernalia in Mr Golunov's flat, but these were later withdrawn, BBC Russian journalist Olga Ivshina reports.

The police, she adds, admitted that "most of the published photos had not been taken at Mr Golunov's flat after all, but were related to another criminal investigation that might be linked to his detention".

Meduza said in a statement that Mr Golunov had received threats in recent months over a story he was working on.

"We are convinced that Ivan Golunov is innocent," the statement reads, according to Reuters news agency. "Moreover, we have grounds to believe that Golunov is being persecuted because of his journalistic activity."

'A deep feeling of helplessness'

by Nataliya Zotova, BBC Russian reporter

Ivan Golunov's friends and journalists have been waiting outside the court building since the morning, showing their support for a colleague they believe has been wrongly arrested.

"I don't believe we can change anything standing there. But what else can we do?" Evgeny Buntman of Ekho Moskvy, one of few independent radio stations in Russia, wondered aloud.

"People come here not because they can be of help here, but because of a deep feeling of helplessness."

In the courtroom, Golunov cried when he saw his friends and colleagues. Everyone was expecting him to be jailed while he awaited trial. Instead, the judge decided on house arrest.

The angry screams of the crowd outside instantly transformed into yelps of joy which carried through the open windows into the courtroom.

Now, it was Golunov's friends to cry - out of relief.

What is being reported about his condition?

A medical examination at Moscow's Hospital Number 71 showed that he had an abrasion on his back and bruising around one eye but no serious injuries that required a stay in hospital, Dr Alexander Myasnikov told Russian media.

None of his ribs were broken, he added, after earlier claims that he had suffered a fracture.

Meduza says he was beaten up by officers both during his arrest and later at a police station. He was, the news site says, only able to contact a friend after 14 hours.

In the first video of Mr Golunov since his arrest, posted by the Russian news site Breaking Mash, he lifts up his shirt to reveal marks on his back.

Mr Golunov said he had been involved in "scuffles" with police, and showed bruises.

His lawyer, Dmitry Julay, told reporters that the journalist had been denied food and sleep for more than 24 hours.

Who is Ivan Golunov?

The journalist has repeatedly exposed corruption among Moscow's high-profile businesspeople and its political elite, as well as fraudulent financial schemes in the city.

Journalists in Russia have often been harassed or attacked in recent years for their work. Many opposition figures and human rights activists in Russia have been detained on apparently fabricated drugs charges, which are widely seen as an attempt to quash political dissent.

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.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Golunov's mother Svetlana (centre) with Galina Timchenko

"We will find out by whose will Vanya [Ivan] is being pursued, and we will make this information public," Meduza's director Galina Timchenko and editor Ivan Kolpakov said.

"We will protect our journalist by all available means."

The journalist's arrest sparked protests in Moscow and St Petersburg, and more than a dozen people - mostly fellow journalists - were reportedly detained and later released.

On Saturday, police detained several people trying to protest about the arrest outside Nikulinsky Court, with one placard condemning the case against the reporter as a "fabrication".

Mr Golunov's mother, Svetlana Golunova, told Reuters the arrest was "not even a farce, it is something unbelievable", and she expected "only victory". </s> MOSCOW: A Russian investigative journalist facing what supporters call trumped up drugs charges was ordered to be held under house arrest on Saturday (Jun 8) after appearing before a judge in Moscow.

Around a hundred people cheered outside the court to show support for Ivan Golunov, 36, in a case that has drawn international concern.

The Moscow-based reporter for the Meduza independent news site has been charged with attempted dealing of a "large amount" of designer drug mephedrone and cocaine.

He will remain under house arrest for two months, the judge said.

Supporters and his defence team said before the hearing he had received death threats and suggested the drugs were planted to punish him for his reporting.

"We have reasons to believe that Golunov is being persecuted for his journalistic work," Meduza said in a statement.

The respected site is based in EU member Latvia to avoid Russian censorship, but some journalists live in Russia. Golunov has investigated subjects ranging from Russia's shady funeral industry to corruption in Moscow city hall.

Golunov was taken to court from a Moscow hospital where doctors examined him and rejected lawyers' claims that he had broken ribs and concussion, while saying he had scratches on his back and a bruised eye.

Golunov, who was arrested on Thursday, earlier told a representative of Russia's presidential rights council, which advises Vladimir Putin that police had punched him and stood on his chest, while police denied he was beaten.

The US Embassy in Moscow wrote on Twitter: "We call for the release of Ivan Golunov," saying he "should not suffer persecution over his professional activities", while the British Embassy called his case "concerning".

Around 20 supporters also protested outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin with slogans such as "Free Golunov".

Meduza founder and CEO Galina Timchenko told journalists outside court Golunov had received death threats over his reporting.

"Ivan received threats. Two months ago they became almost daily," she said.

"They said 'we'll bury you forever'," she said.

One of Golunov's lawyers, Dmitry Dzhulai, told AFP it appeared the drugs had been planted on Golunov.

Moscow police admitted that they posted photographs of drugs paraphernalia wrongly captioned as showing Golunov's flat.

"Everything indicates that the authorities are planting drugs on their targets to shut them up with a jail sentence," said Natalia Zvyagina, director of Amnesty International's branch in Russia.

Russian journalists and rights groups see the case as an example of the persecution of independent reporters, with many saying Golunov was not known to take drugs.

Outside the Moscow court on Saturday, some journalists held up placards with slogans including "I am the journalist Ivan Golunov. Arrest me too."

Police detained four people, an AFP video journalist saw.

On Friday, dozens of journalists protested against Golunov's detention outside Moscow police headquarters and were themselves briefly detained.

Reporters Without Borders warned his arrest could mark "a significant escalation in the persecution" of independent journalists in Russia.

Journalists at Russia's dwindling number of independent media resources frequently face criminal probes, physical attacks and official pressure. Drugs accusations, however, are not common.
Following a public outcry, authorities in Russia drop drug charges against a journalist, Ivan Golunov, who has earned a reputation for exposing the corruption of Moscow city officials.