11 Jun 2019 20:40

Russian Interior Minister requests dismissal of two police generals in connection with Golunov case

MOSCOW. June 11 (Interfax) - The Russian Investigative Committee will perform a legal assessment of the actions of the police officers who detained Meduza correspondent Ivan Golunov, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said.

"The materials of the investigation conducted by the internal security service with regard to the lawfulness of actions performed by police officers in detaining journalist Ivan Golunov have been submitted to the Russian Investigative Committee; the officers themselves have been suspended," Kolokoltsev told reporters on Tuesday.

"I have moved to petition the Russian president to dismiss head of the Interior Department for the Western Administrative District of Moscow General Puchkov and head of the Illegal Drug Trafficking Department of the Interior Ministry's Main Directorate in Moscow General Devyatkin," he said.

"The rights of any citizen must always be protected, whatever his or her occupation," Kolokoltsev said.