Pickets begin across Russia in support of arrested ‘Meduza’ journalist Ivan Golunov

Individual pickets have begun outside the Moscow division of Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry in support of Meduza correspondent Ivan Golunov, who has been arrested and accused of attempting to sell drugs.

RTVi Deputy Editor-in-Chief Tikhon Dziadko published a photograph on Twitter that depicted fellow journalist Ilya Azar holding a poster demanding Golunov’s release.

Pickets in support of Golunov have also begun in Perm, Yaroslavl, Krasnodar, and other Russian cities.

Ivan Golunov was arrested on June 6. He was charged with attempting to sell drugs in large quantities. Golunov denies the charges against him and argues that the drugs were planted. After he was arrested, Golunov was prevented for more than 12 hours from contacting an attorney. He was beaten at the police station where he was held and was subsequently prohibited from calling an ambulance.

Police also refused to take hand swabs and nail clippings from Golunov for the purpose of determining whether or not he touched the packets of drugs in question.