Dozens of people gathered outside Russian Interior Ministry’s Moscow office on Friday to protest against the arrest of investigative journalist Ivan Golunov.
According to a statement by the Moscow police, the Meduza journalist was arrested on Thursday on charges of drug trafficking. According to the police, Golunov was stopped and searched while walking along the central Tsvetnoy Boulevard on Thursday afternoon and found carrying four grams of mephedrone on his rucksack.
He faces up to 20 years behind bars if found guilty of drug trafficking.
“We are convinced that Ivan Golunov is innocent. Moreover, we have reason to believe he’s been targeted because of his work as a journalist,” Meduza’s CEO Galina Timchenko and editor Ivan Kolpakov said in a statement.