Four Moscow police officers have been dismissed over a drug-trafficking case launched against investigative journalist Ivan Golunov, who was released on June 11 amid a public outcry and accusations that the case against him was fabricated.
Golunov, a 36-year-old journalist who works for the Latvian-based Meduza online journal, was arrested on June 6 in Moscow for allegedly attempting to sell illegal drugs.
He was released on June 11 after the charges were dropped following a public outcry, and investigations were launched into his detainment.
Russian news agencies quoted sources in Moscow law enforcement on July 16 as saying that three officers and their supervisor were fired for violating Golunov's rights while detaining him in early June.
According to the sources, the officers are not suspected of planting drugs in Golunov's backpack and his apartment.
On June 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Major General Yury Devyatkin, the head of the Moscow police department's drug-control directorate, and Major General Andrei Puchkov, the police chief in Moscow's western administrative region, over the Golunov case.