The Kremlin believes that it is too early to make any sweeping conclusions about the distrust of the society and media in the police and courts based on the case with the detention of Meduza news portal journalist Ivan Golunov, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th June, 2019) The Kremlin believes that it is too early to make any sweeping conclusions about the distrust of the society and media in the police and courts based on the case with the detention of Meduza news portal journalist Ivan Golunov, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.Golunov, known for investigating alleged corruption among officials, was detained on Friday with illegal drugs found in his backpack. Soon after his detention, the Russian Interior Ministry released several photos allegedly proving Golunov's links to drug trafficking. While it did say that the photographs were shot at his apartment, the ministry later admitted that only one photo was taken there, and that the others were taken in other locations that the police searched while investigating a drug trafficking case. The ministry stressed, however, that Golunov was suspected of being linked to the case. Golunov, whom a court in Moscow placed under house arrest on Saturday, has denied the charges. According to his lawyer, the police likely planted drugs in the journalist's backpack. The case resonated across the Russian society and media spectrum.
"I do not believe in generalizing, I will repeat once again, this particular case, it gave rise to some questions, or rather not just some questions, but a lot of them. We see it, we make note of it, but I think it would not be right to make any general conclusions about distrust in the whole system based on this case," Peskov said, when asked how serious, according to the Kremlin, were the issues of distrust in the police and courts on part of the society and the media.
The spokesman added that a mistake was "possible anywhere, because people work everywhere."
"The most important thing is to acknowledge those mistakes and explain how they came about so that they would not be made again," Peskov told reporters, when asked if the Kremlin still trusted the Interior Ministry after it posted the photos that were initially labeled as if they were from the reporter's apartment.
All possible violations by the police and investigators are being looked into by the General Prosecutor's Office, Peskov pointed out.
"The General Prosecutor's Office has access to all materials on the case, and we have no doubt that the Prosecutor General's Office will perform its functions," the spokesman said.
He also stressed that the Kremlin was closely monitoring the case.
"We are closely watching how this case is developing, all the details ... Because it is really resonant, it requires special attention. But mainly it is a reason for the Prosecutor General's Office and other agencies of this body to closely investigate if there were any violations or not," Peskov said.
When asked whether Kremlin aide Anton Kobyakov had really taken the Golunov case under him personal control, Peskov explained that his colleague had meant that that he would study all the available materials on the case.
