Ivan Golunov

Ivan Valentinovich Golunov (; born 19 January 1983) is a Russian investigative journalist and anti-corruption reporter currently working for the independent outlet Meduza.

He came to public attention in June 2019 when he was arrested and charged with a drug-related crime by the Moscow city police; he was later released after widespread public outcry, which alleged that the case was fabricated to silence Golunov's investigations into corruption.Refn|group=note|The response spanned a very diverse range of figures whose union was unlikely to happen.

Early life and career An ethnic Vepsian, Ivan Golunov was born on 19 January 1983 in Moscow. He studied at Moscow International Film School 1318, and completed an internship at Novaya Gazeta in the late 1990s. He then worked for the magazine Afisha, writing a guide to the suburbs, and then for Vedomosti between 2003 and 2005. He was then with Forbes for a time, before returning to Vedomosti in 2008. Other investigations included 'A roughly painted, cheap fake', about a controversial multi-billion rouble restoration of the Stone Flower Fountain, and 'Musicians remain silent and afraid', concerning the exchange of state assets and links to presidential agencies. He was researching a followup to this latter study at the time of his arrest in 2019, looking at connections between funeral businesses in Moscow and the city's Federal Security Service (FSB) department, and had just submitted a draft of the article on the day of his arrest.

Arrest and charges

Arrest

On 7 June 2019, Golunov was arrested by Moscow City Police on drug-related crime charges. Colleagues and friends of Golunov expressed their belief that the case was fabricated and charges were primarily motivated by Golunov's investigations into corruption. Those publicly speaking in defense of Golunov included Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Posner, Yuri Shevchuk, Zemfira, Alexey Venediktov, Victor Matizen, Victor Shenderovich, Anna Narinskaya, Boris Grebenshchikov, Dmitry Muratov, Leonid Parfyonov, Grigory Yavlinsky, Oxxxymiron, and a number of other journalists, artists, and public figures. Three major Russian newspapers, Kommersant, Vedomosti and RBK, published a joint editorial under the headline "I am / We are Ivan Golunov".

Several dozen of Golunov's works (in Russian) about corruption among officials and businessmen in Moscow and other cities and regions were made public at the time of his arrest, and offered for reprint and distribution in order to raise public awareness of the case.Refn|group=note|At the time they were available for free under Creative Commons License.

In a press release about the arrest of Golunov and a search of his apartment, the police published a series of photos, eight of which showed a drug lab. These photographs were widely distributed through Telegram instant-messaging channels linked to the police. Soon the police officially confirmed that the photographs were taken in the apartment of the suspect. However, they then admitted that an error had occurred and only one photo was actually taken at Golunov's apartment.

On 8 June, Golunov was sentenced to house arrest until 7 August.

Release

On 11 June 2019, the non-profit Anti-Corruption Foundation published an investigation that linked alleged masterminds behind Golunov's persecution to officials in the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), including its Moscow office chief. On the same day, Golunov was released and cleared of all charges.

Subsequent investigation About six months after Golunov's release, five ex-police officers were charged over fabrication of his case. On May 21, 2021 the five former officers were sentenced from 5 to 12 years in prison. Additionally the court ordered each of them to pay Golunov $13,600 (or 1 million rubles at the time). Meduza outlet where Golunov is working expressed skepticism over the officer's sentence: it believes that justice didn't reach those who have originally masterminded the crime.

In July 2023, Golunov said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs had paid him 1.5 million rubles in damages following a ruling by the Moscow City Court in December 2022.