Moscow police fires 4 officers involved in drug arrest of journalist Golunov

Four operatives have been sacked by the Moscow police as a result of an internal probe into the case of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, who was detained on drug charges, but swiftly released amid a massive outcry.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin dismissed two police generals over the scandalous detention – one of them was in charge of the Drug Control Directorate in the Moscow police, while the other headed the district police force, which opened the case against the man.

The president decried the actions of the police in the case as “lawlessness” and “abuse of power,” urging a through probe into the ordeal.

Golunov, who was investigating alleged corruption in the Moscow’s funeral services, was detained in early June on accusations of being a drug dealer.

The police said the suspect had five wraps of Mephedrone on him, with the search of his apartment also revealing several grams of cocaine.

The Meduza journalist insisted that the drugs were planted on him, with the arrest leading to a vast public outcry as colleagues and human rights activists sounded the alarm. Several papers came out the next morning with the slogan: “We are Ivan Golunov” on their front pages.

Golunov was released a few days later, with all charges dropped against him over lack of evidence. He later told RT that he became the victim of a “fabricated drug arrest.”

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