Ivan Golunov is free

A message from ‘Meduza’ CEO Galina Timchenko, ‘Meduza’ Editor-in-Chief Ivan Kolpakov, former ‘Novaya Gazeta’ Editor-in-Chief Dmitry Muratov, ‘The Bell’ founder Elizaveta Osetinskaya, and attorney Sergey Badamshin

Dear friends,

The case against Ivan Golunov is closed. This is the result of an unprecedented international solidarity campaign among both journalists and their allies. Together, we made the unbelievable happen: we stopped the criminal prosecution of an innocent man. Thank you!

We are glad that the government has listened to the people. That’s how it should be when injustice occurs.

The freeing of Ivan is an excellent cause for celebration. We want that celebration to bring all of us together. Negotiations with City Hall on the question of organizing a public action tomorrow have reached a dead end. We suggest going out tomorrow and having a bit to drink — and, in the meantime, fighting to receive approval for an action in central Moscow in the coming days. We are certain they will be unable to refuse us.

Those who organized the law enforcement operation against Golunov have not been named. The group of journalists we have gathered together in recent days will continue working, and now, they will be working together with Ivan himself. This is only the beginning. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us if we are to ensure that what happened here will never happen again to anybody.

Read this statement in Russian.

Galina Timchenko

Ivan Kolpakov

Dmitry Muratov

Elizaveta Osetinskaya

Sergey Badamshin