The Kremlin has no intention and no possibility to meddle in the Russian Investigative Committee's work on the case of journalist Ivan Golunov, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2020) The Kremlin has no intention and no possibility to meddle in the Russian Investigative Committee's work on the case of journalist Ivan Golunov, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the committee started interrogating, as part of its probe into the Golunov case, five former police officers, who used to work at the drug trafficking control unit of the Department of Internal Affairs for Moscow's Western Administrative District.
"There is absolutely no need to put forward such a task. The Investigative Committee is conducting investigative operations, which obviously aim at establishing the circumstances and the person guilty of violating the law. So I do not quite understand your wording," Peskov told reporters, when asked whether Russian President Vladimir Putin has set a task "to find the mastermind" of the case.
He added that the Kremlin had no "intention and, actually, no possibility to meddle in the investigative activities."
Golunov, working for Meduza news outlet and known for covering corruption-related stories, was detained in June after the police found drugs in his possession. The journalist maintained that the drugs had been planted on him in retaliation for his investigative work. Charges were later dropped amid a public backlash due to lack of evidence. As violations were detected, several law enforcement agents were dismissed in light of Golunov's case, while five police officers faced criminal accusations.
