MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - Investigators are questioning five former police operatives in a criminal case dealing with the unlawful detention and prosecution of Ivan Golunov, a journalist of the online publication Meduza, the Russian Investigative Committee press service said.
"Five former officials from the drug control division of the Interior Ministry directorate for Moscow's Western Administrative District have been taken to the Russian Investigative Committee as part of the so-called Ivan Golunov case," the press service said in a statement seen by Interfax on Wednesday.
"Investigators are currently questioning them," the statement said.
Golunov was detained and accused of attempted drug dealing on June 6, 2019. Amid broad public outcry and a campaign in his support, Golunov's prosecution was stopped on June 11, 2019. Golunov claimed that the drugs had been planted on him, and his prosecution was, in fact, prompted by a journalistic investigation into the funeral business, which he had been pursuing before his detention.
Golunov's case was initially handled by Moscow Police. After the journalist was freed, the Moscow City Police Office began scrutinizing the operatives who detained him in the same drug trafficking case. The Prosecutor General's Office ordered later in June 2019, that the case be passed to the Investigative Committee.
Investigators are currently probing a criminal case on a count of abuse of office entailing serious consequences. The investigation informed Golunov on January 14, 2020, that he was being formally recognized as a victim.
President Vladimir Putin said in December 2019, that criminal cases had been opened against five policemen responsible for detaining Golunov. The journalist himself, along with his defense lawyers, said the criminal case had been opened into the fact of a crime having been committed, rather than against some particular or unidentified individuals.