Journalist Golunov to sue Moscow cops who planted drugs on him in summer 2019, seeks $70k in damages

Journalist Ivan Golunov is suing the five former police officers who falsified evidence against him in June 2019. Golunov hopes to win 5 million rubles ($70,250). The cops were fired and arrested, after the scandal.

“I have carefully studied their work over the past few years. The situation that happened to me is clearly not their only experience of falsifying evidence. Most of their work was not in the fight against drug trafficking, but in the imitation of this fight,” Golunov wrote on his Telegram channel.

Speaking to Interfax news agency, Golunov explained that the taxpayer is being cheated due to the poor quality work of drug control officers. The amount of 5 million rubles is intended to recoup the officers’ wages.

According to Golunov’s lawyer, Sergei Badamshin, the journalist is claiming compensation for “moral damages.” If successful, Golunov intends to donate the money to charity.

Ivan Golunov was arrested on June 6, 2019 and placed under house arrest, falsely accused of attempting the large-scale sale of drugs. After a mass protest movement and an unprecedented media support campaign, the prosecution was dropped after five days. In early 2020, the officers who planted the drugs were detained and accused of abuse of power, falsification of evidence, and illegal possession of drugs. Four defendants are in custody, and the fifth is under house arrest.

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