Ex-police officers convicted in the Golunov case challenge verdict

The former police officers convicted of fabricating a criminal case against Meduza correspondent Ivan Golunov have challenged the verdict handed down by the Moscow City Court on May 28, the court’s spokespeople told Interfax.

Appeals were filed by Igor Lyakhovets — the key figure involved in Ivan Golunov’s illegal arrest, who was given a 12-year prison sentence, — as well as his former subordinates, Roman Feofanov, Maxim Umetbaev, and Akbar Sergaliev, who were each sentenced to eight years in prison.

The final defendant in the case, Denis Konovalov — who pleaded guilty and was given a five-year prison sentence, — also plans to file an appeal against the verdict in the near future, said his lawyer Alexey Gubkin. Immediately after the announcement of the verdict, reports emerged that Konovalov wasn’t planning on challenging the court’s ruling. “In the appeal that I will file today, we will ask for a reduction of the prison term,” Gubkin said on June 7.

• The former police officers were convicted of abuse of office, falsifying evidence, and drug trafficking. Aside from Konovalov, none of the defendants in the case fully pleaded guilty.
• Meduza special correspondent Ivan Golunov was arrested in Moscow on June 6, 2019, on suspicion of attempted drug trafficking. He maintained that he wasn’t guilty and insisted that the drugs had been planted on him. The criminal case against Golunov was dropped on June 11, following a large-scale public campaign in support of him.