Police officers in the case of Ivan Golunov received from 5 to 12 years in prison

As reported by Mediazona, the prosecutor requested the security officials from seven to 16 years in prison. As a result, the terms were somewhat lower. The maximum punishment - 12 years in a penal colony - was assigned to Igor Lyakhovets, a former employee of the Internal Affairs Directorate for Moscow ZAO.

“His subordinates Akbar Sergaliev, Roman Feofanov and Maxim Umetbaev were given 8 years each. The judge sentenced Denis Konovalov, who pleaded guilty, to 5 years in prison”, - is written in the statement.

In addition to the actual terms of imprisonment, the court sentenced the security officials to deprivation of titles. At the hearing, Golunov's civil suit against the police was satisfied: each of the accused will be obliged to pay a million rubles in favor of the victim.

Investigative journalist of Meduza* Ivan Golunov was detained in Moscow on June 7, 2019 near the Tsvetnoy Bulvar metro station. The police said they found five parcels of illegal drugs in Golunov's backpack. On this basis, the journalist was accused of illegal sale of drugs on a large scale (part 3 of article 30, point "d", part 4 of article 228.1 of the Criminal Code). In support of the accusations brought against Golunov, the press service of the Moscow Ministry of Internal Affairs published photographs of the "drug laboratory", allegedly taken in the journalist's apartment. At the same time, Golunov himself firmly declared his innocence, claiming that the police planted drugs on him.

In defense of Golunov in Russia, all the leading media rose. The journalists organized a series of single pickets demanding the release of their colleague. Issues of federal editions came out with front pages made in the same style: “I / we are Golunov”. Under pressure from the public, the Ministry of Internal Affairs revised the materials of the jel and came to the conclusion that Golunov was really not to blame, and drugs were planted on him.

Former operatives of the Internal Affairs Directorate for ZAO Moscow Maxim Umetbaev, Akbar Sergaliev, Roman Feofanov and their chief Igor Lyakhovets were sent to a pre-trial detention center. Their colleague Konovalov, who pleaded guilty and testified against his boss, was under house arrest.

The Golunov case led to large-scale personnel reshuffles in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The head of the press service, Yuri Titov, lost his chair, allowing the publication of fake photos of the "drug laboratory" allegedly located in Golunov's apartment. Together with Titov, the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate for ZAO, Police Major General Andrei Puchkov, Head of the Drug Control Department, Police Major General Yuri Devyatkin, and the former head of the Drug Control Department of the Internal Affairs Directorate for ZAO Moscow Andrey Shchirov, who oversaw the detention of Golunov, lost their posts.

One of the high-ranking police officers involved in the Golunov case left Russia.

After initiating a case against the police, Golunov was able to independently investigate the entire path of the police, which included spying on him and planting illegal substances. Golunov made the materials of his investigation public. In addition, the "Golunov case" revealed another systemic problem of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, related to the recruitment of paid dummy witnesses, including those involved in drug trafficking. Investigators believe that thanks to this system, the problem of fabricating criminal cases against innocent people in Russia has acquired unprecedented proportions.

The Investigative Committee considered that they themselves decided to plant drugs on Golunov for the sake of promotion. The investigation did not find the customer of the crime.

* By the decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated April 23, 2021, Meduza was included in the list of media outlets - “foreign agents”.