
Journalist Ivan Golunov (R) at the meeting of the Moscow City Court, where the verdict of former police officers in the case of his illegal detention is being announced.
Moscow City Court passed down the judgement on Friday, sentencing Igor Lyakhovets, the former deputy head of the drugs division in the west of the capital, to a 12-year spell in prison. His then-subordinates Akbar Sergaliev, Roman Feofanov and Maxim Umetbaev received eight years each, while a fifth, Denis Konovalov, took a deal to plead guilty and received a five-year term. Each was fined one million rubles ($13,600 USD), stripped of their ranks and given bans from holding public service roles.
The ex-officers arrested Ivan Golunov in June 2019, claiming he had been in possession of the recreational drug mephedrone while he was working as a correspondent for Meduza, a Latvia-based news site registered as a 'foreign agent' by Russia's Ministry of Justice over links to overseas funding.
However, the reporter was released only five days later, after a large-scale public outcry that saw Russian news outlets rally together to protest his innocence. Hundreds even took to the streets to demonstrate against the arrest in Moscow and cities across the country. Several leading newspapers also published identical front pages to show solidarity with the detained journalist.















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