(Bloomberg) -- Ivan Golunov, a prominent Russian investigative reporter detained Thursday on drug-trafficking charges, was ordered by a court to stay under house arrest pending his trial.
Moscow’s Nikulinsky District Court ruled that Golunov remain under house arrest until August 7, denying a request by investigators to leave him in pretrial detention, Interfax reported late Saturday. Hundreds of journalists and supporters were gathered outside the courtroom.
Golunov denies the charges, which could carry a sentence of up to 20 years. His employer, the Latvian-registered Russian-language news outlet Meduza, has said he’s being persecuted for his work, which focused on exposing corruption.
“For at least the past 13 months, Ivan Golunov was receiving threats from the subjects of a report that hasn’t been published yet,” Ivan Kolpakov, Meduza’s editor in chief, said in a statement. “The entire staff of Meduza is 100% certain that the charges against Ivan Golunov are related to his journalism.”
Defense lawyers filed a request to the Investigative Committee to probe the police who detained Golunov, Interfax reported, citing Pavel Chikov, head of the human rights group Agora. The use of force by police while he was in custody resulted in injuries to Golunov’s back and head, Interfax said, citing the request.
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