The outpouring of support for Ivan Golunov shows the power of online media and a growing mood for protest in Russia
A WEEK AGO few people had heard of Ivan Golunov, a freelance journalist who reports on corruption in Moscow. His work was published by Meduza, an independent news website that operates out of Latvia. Police and prosecutors ignored him.
The Kremlin had spent millions of dollars staging a summit in St Petersburg with Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, on the day of Mr Golunov’s arrest. In the event, the formerly obscure journalist overshadowed the powwow. The story of his arrest circulated widely; international and Russian media ran pictures and posted videos of him in tears inside a cage in a courtroom. Actors, singers and other public figures joined in the denunciation of the case.
First, the release of Mr Golunov shows that the Kremlin is worried about losing its monopoly on force. An investigation by activists and supporters concluded that the journalist was nabbed by members of a corrupt group of FSB officers who work with the criminal underground, connections that Mr Golunov has exposed. Mr Titiev was arrested and jailed for crossing Ramzan Kadyrov, a strongman in Chechnya who commands a small army.
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