It’s starting to look like a pattern: Russian law enforcement agencies arrest someone on what seem to be trumped-up charges; the arrestee’s colleagues raise their voices in protest; various pro-Kremlin figures join the outcry; the prisoner walks free.
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Leonid Bershidsky: Putin plays a cruel game of catch-and-release
Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov (R), charged of 'illegal production or sale of drugs', leaves Russian Head Investigative Department's office in Moscow on June 11, 2019. - Russian police droped drug charges against this investigative journalist and free him from house arrest on June 11, in a rare climbdown by law enforcement following a public outcry. (Photo by Vasily MAXIMOV / AFP)
