Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, on Tuesday called the case against Ivan Golunov, an investigative journalist charged with drug offences, a “very bad story,” the Interfax news agency reported, Euronews reports.
The comments, by a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, are likely to encourage supporters of Golunov who believe he was framed and have organised protests demanding the charges against him be dropped.