MOSCOW, July 23 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Federal Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova believes it is necessary to legislatively fix up journalists engaged in investigative reporting with immunity guarantees.

Today journalistic investigations are protected in no way, she said during the Federation Council’s meeting on Tuesday. The ombudsman insists that this field and its members should be legislatively protected.

The journalist rights defense is an urgent problem, Moskalkova stated. According to Reporters Without Borders, an international organization conducting political advocacy on issues relating to freedom of information and freedom of the press, in 2018, 348 journalists were arrested throughout the world, 80 reporters died.

Moskalkova also noted that the case of Meduza correspondent Ivan Golunov related to his professional activity.

Golunov was arrested in Moscow in early June on suspicion of possession. The journalist pleaded not guilty, insisted that the drugs were planted on him during the arrest and claimed that his prosecution was related to his journalistic investigations. According to his defense, an examination showed no drugs in his biomaterial.

A few days after charges against Golunov were dropped because of a lack of evidence that he participated in the crime, and the reporter was released. On June 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed two generals of police on the back of the arrest of Golunov.