The Zelenogradsky District Court of Moscow released police officer Denis Konovalov, who planted drugs on journalist Ivan Golunov, on parole from forced labor. This was reported by lawyer Sergei Badamshin.
As Golunov himself said, he was not against releasing the security officer from punishment. “I did not object to this, because Konovalov admitted his guilt at the preliminary investigation stage <…> He apologized, and they really sounded sincere,” the journalist commented on the court’s decision. In addition, the security officer testified against his colleagues.
In May 2021, Konovalov was sentenced to five years in a general regime colony in the case of drugs planted on a journalist. In 2022, the appeal court reduced the sentence of the security officer by six months, and in June 2023, imprisonment was replaced by forced labor.
A similar decision to commute the punishment was made in relation to police officers Maxim Umetbaev and Akbar Sergaliev, who were involved in the case together with Konovalov. At the same time, another person involved in the case, Roman Feofanov, also applied for release from the colony, but the court refused him. As Golunov previously told Meduza, Feofanov was the only one who did not apologize to him, despite the beating during his arrest.
The fifth security officer detained in the case of planted drugs was the head of the department for combating drug trafficking Internal Affairs Directorate for Moscow CJSC Igor Lyakhovets. The court of first instance sentenced him to 12 years in prison, but the appeal court reduced the sentence by six months.