Powerful US gun lobby turns off television channel

Yahoo – AFP, June 27, 2019

The NRA shut down production on its live television channel NRATV at the same
time its top lobbyist resigned (AFP Photo/KAREN BLEIER)

Washington (AFP) - The most powerful US gun-owners organization shuttered its online television channel on Wednesday amid increasing internal power struggles and waning public influence.

The National Rifle Association closed down live programming on its channel NRATV, which has been criticized even within the group for its ultra right-wing language.

NRATV notably sparked controversy in September when Dana Loesch -- the channel's main presenter and the NRA's no-holds-barred spokeswoman -- criticized the children's cartoon "Thomas & Friends" for adding more diverse characters.

To illustrate the point, Loesch showed images of the show's anthropomorphized train characters drawn wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods.

The end of NRATV is "a victory for every American who wants to see less incendiary, hate-fueled rhetoric taking up space in the media landscape," said Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control advocacy nonprofit.

"The shutting down of the NRATV is just another sign that the NRA is in a state of crisis and the gun safety movement is stronger than it's ever been," the organization added in a thread on Twitter.

The channel's closing down is linked to a bitter spat between the NRA and its advertising agency Ackerman McQueen. The NRA has filed a lawsuit against the agency, complaining of unjustified billings.

Additionally, the NRA's top lobbyist Chris Cox, who was seen as a potential successor to the group's longtime CEO Wayne LaPierre, resigned Wednesday, further adding to the group's unrest.

Cox was accused of participating in an internal attempt to unseat LaPierre, according to media reports.

In April, NRA president Oliver North, who took over the position only last year, decided not to seek a second term. In a letter to the NRA's executive committee, North accused LaPierre of using group funds for personal purchases.

North said that his efforts to fight alleged financial mismanagement in the NRA had led to his ouster.

The leadership struggle has played out in public view at a time when the NRA -- which has long played an outsized role in the gun debate in America -- has faced mounting political, regulatory and financial challenges.

Firearms claimed more than 36,000 lives in the United States in 2018.

Greenland seeks to break silence around child sexual abuse

Yahoo – AFP, Camille BAS-WOHLERT, June 25, 2019

The Greenland County Council Hall in the capital Nuuk, where the government says
it aims to eradicate sexual abuse of children by 2022 (AFP Photo/Christian Klindt Soelbeck)

Copenhagen (AFP) - In Greenland, the scourge of child sexual abuse has emerged as a pressing concern with nearly one in three having suffered abuse in their childhood, and efforts to combat it hampered by a persistent conspiracy of silence.

The sparsely populated autonomous Danish territory is confronted with major social problems, including high levels of suicide and alcoholism. The government highlights alcohol and hash abuse as the number one health concern.

But the recent airing of a documentary on sexual abuse on Danish public television has put the spotlight on the issue, renewing the Arctic island's commitment to tackling abuse of children.

"I was about six years old... I was woken up in the middle of the night because someone was touching me. My hands were tied, my knees were tied and he abused me," said Anna-Sofie Jonathansen in the documentary.

She is a resident of Tasiilaq, a remote village in the south-east where the documentary said nearly half of adults under 60 years of age have been sexually abused as children.

Tasiilaq also reflects another troubling statistic with as many as one in five people committing suicide.

Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, averaging one per thousand inhabitants.

"Many children are victims of sexual abuse and experience violence in their homes. For many of them, this leads to a life full of problems and anxieties, which leads many young people to commit suicide," Jonna Ketwa, president of the NGO Save the Children in Greenland, told AFP.

The pervasiveness of the sexual abuse is heavily linked to consumption of drugs and alcohol and it's more common in violent homes, according to Sara Olsvig, director of UNICEF in Greenland, who also says there is a lack of knowledge of children's rights.

But complicating matters is that among Greenland's 56,000 inhabitants the silence around sexual abuse remains deeply embedded.

"For many of them, that's just the way it is," Rikke Blegvad, a teacher interviewed in the documentary said.

Naasunnguaq Ignatiussen Streymoy, another resident of Tasiilaq, started a petition for better support for victims and said she had received death threats for putting the village in a negative light.

"There will be consequences because it's not okay to portray their perfect village in this way," she said in the documentary.

Modest improvements

According to a public health study published in April, 20 percent of Greenlanders born after 1995 were sexually abused as children. That share is less than half that of the previous generation when 43 percent of people born between 1975 and 1979 suffered abuse.

And there are signs that the conspiracy of silence is starting to show cracks as more Greenlanders come forward to report abuse to authorities.

In 2018, 436 complaints of sexual offences, 50 more than the previous year, were filed in Greenland, of which 20 percent concerned minors. That represents eight complaints per 1,000 inhabitants compared with 1.1 complaint per 1,000 in the rest of Denmark.

"Within the police and the prosecution authority we are seeing that, for the moment, the taboo around sexual abuse is ever so slightly being challenged," said Greenland Police Chief Bjorn Tegner Bay in his annual report.

But he also noted that "there is a long way to go", and in some areas there were no reports of abuse against children, indicating that the culture of silence still reigns.

Calls for help

"Changes should come from inside," said Aaja Chemnitz Larsen, who represents Greenland in the Danish Parliament.

"But we need to collaborate with qualified people to gather more knowledge and have a permanent investment," she added.

Chemnitz Larsen has requested the aid of Copenhagen to help address the issue.

Even Greenland's local parliament, traditionally staunchly mindful of its autonomy, has turned to Denmark, which normally only handles state functions and foreign and defence policy.

In Nuuk, the government which is sovereign in terms of economic and social policy has put in place a strategy with the aim of eradicating the sexual abuse of children by 2022.

To this end, it intends to launch information campaigns, particularly aimed at raising awareness on children's rights and respect of physical integrity.

The government has also promised to provide care for all those affected, but to deliver on this promise it needs to encourage social workers to move closer to the territory's most remote areas, where sexual abuse is more frequent.

"There are not enough psychologists or social workers to help... families and victims. We are not even close to being able to help predators," Ketwa from Save the Children in Greenland, told AFP.

Huge Hong Kong rally kicks off as public anger boils

Yahoo – AFP, Jerome Taylor and Elaine Yu, June 16, 2019

Crowds of black-clad protesters were mraching from a park on the main island to
 the city's parliament -- a repeat of a massive rally a week earlier that organisers
said more than a million people attended (AFP Photo/Dale DE LA REY)

Tens of thousands of people rallied in central Hong Kong on Sunday as public anger seethed following unprecedented clashes between protesters and police over an extradition law, despite a climbdown by the city's embattled leader.

Protesters chanted "Scrap the evil law!" as they marched through the streets to pile more pressure on chief executive Carrie Lam, who paused work on the hugely divisive bill Saturday after days of mounting pressure, saying she had misjudged the public mood.

Crowds of black-clad protesters were marching from a park on the main island to the city's parliament -- a repeat of a massive demonstration a week earlier that organisers said more than a million people attended.

Critics fear the Beijing-backed law will tangle-up people in China's notoriously opaque and politicised courts and damage the city's reputation as a safe business hub.

Protesters chanted 'Scrap the evil law!' as they marched through the streets to pile 

more pressure on Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam (AFP Photo/Hector RETAMAL)

"Carrie Lam's response is very insincere. Knowing that the government won't withdraw the bill, I decided to come out today," said protester Terence Shek, 39, who had brought his children on the march.

The city was rocked by the worst political violence since its 1997 handover to China on Wednesday as tens of thousands of protesters were dispersed by riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

"You're supposed to protect us not shoot at us" read one banner carried on Sunday, addressing the city's police force, while others marching held photos of police breaking up crowds in Wednesday's clashes.

Lam stopped short of committing to permanently scrap the proposal Saturday and the concession was swiftly rejected by protest leaders, who called on her to resign, permanently shelve the bill and apologise for police tactics.

Hong Kong activist Jimmy Sham likened chief executive Carrie Lam's offer to 

a 'knife' that had been plunged into the city (AFP Photo/HECTOR RETAMAL)

"The extradition bill being suspended only means it can be revived any time Carrie Lam wants," said activist Lee Cheuk-yan.

Nearly 80 people were injured in this week's unrest, including 22 police officers, and one man died late Saturday when he fell from a building where he had been holding an hours-long anti-extradition protest.

He had unfurled a banner saying: "Entirely withdraw China extradition bill. We were not rioting. Released students and the injured".

Huge queues formed outside the high-end Pacific Place mall with flowers and written tributes piling up as demonstrators paid their respects.

Suspending the bill has done little to defuse simmering public anger and protest organisers have called for a city-wide strike Monday as well as Sunday's rally.

Hong Kong has been rocked by the worst political unrest since its handover to 

China (AFP Photo/Anthony WALLACE)

Jimmy Sham, from the main protest group the Civil Human Rights Front, likened Lam's offer to a "knife" that had been plunged into the city.

"Carrie Lam's speech yesterday in no way calmed down public anger," he said.

'Restore calm to the community'

Lam's decision to press ahead with tabling the bill for debate in the legislature on Wednesday -- ignoring the record-breaking crowds three days earlier -- triggered fresh protests, which brought key parts of the city to a standstill and led to violent clashes with police.

Opposition to the bill united an unusually wide cross-section of Hong Kong, from influential legal and business bodies to religious leaders, as well as Western nations.

Mourners place flowers and offer prayers at the site where a protester died

(AFP Photo/Anthony WALLACE)

The protest movement has morphed in recent days from one specifically aimed at scrapping the extradition bill to a wider display of anger at Lam and Beijing over years of sliding freedoms.

A huge banner hanging from the city's Lion Rock mountain on Sunday read "Defend Hong Kong".

Lam had been increasingly isolated in her support for the bill, with even pro-Beijing lawmakers distancing themselves from the extradition proposals in recent days.

The Chinese government said suspending the bill was a good decision to "listen more widely to the views of the community and restore calm to the community as soon as possible".

The police have faced criticism for heavy handed tactices to disperse 

protesters (AFP Photo/HECTOR RETAMAL)

'Keep the heat on'

Critics were also angry that Lam missed repeated opportunities to apologise for what many saw as heavy-handed police tactics.

Police said they had no choice but to use force to meet violent protesters who besieged their lines outside the city's parliament on Wednesday.

But critics -- including legal and rights groups -- say officers used the actions of a tiny group of violent protesters as an excuse to unleash a sweeping crackdown on the predominantly young, peaceful protesters.

"The pro-democracy group will not stop at this point, they want to build on the momentum against Carrie Lam," political analyst Willy Lam told AFP. "They will keep the heat on and ride the momentum."

People pray outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong on the eve of 

Sunday's mass rally (AFP Photo/HECTOR RETAMAL)

Protest leaders have called for police to drop charges against anyone arrested for rioting and other offences linked to Wednesday's clashes.

Activist Lee said opponents feared reprisals by the government and wanted assurances "that our Hong Kong people, our protesters, are not being harassed and politically prosecuted by this government".

Lam has argued that Hong Kong needs to reach an extradition agreement with the mainland, and says safeguards were in place to ensure dissidents or political cases would not be accepted.

Israel PM's wife convicted of misusing public funds

Yahoo – AFP, Stephen WEIZMAN, June 16, 2019

Sara Netanyahu has been ordered to pay a fine and compensation under a plea
deal over misusing public funds (AFP Photo/DEBBIE HILL)

Jerusalem (AFP) - An Israeli court Sunday convicted the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of fraudulently using state funds for meals, under a plea bargain which dropped more severe charges.

While the ruling cut short a high-profile trial, the Netanyahu family's legal woes are far from over: the veteran premier himself faces possible indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the coming months.

In a deal approved by judge Avital Chen at Jerusalem magistrates' court, Sara Netanyahu was found guilty of using the errors of government accounting staff to bypass spending restrictions.

She was fined 10,000 shekels ($2,800) and ordered to reimburse the state a further 45,000 shekels.

Although her husband is a millionaire she asked for payment to be deferred and the judge allowed her to pay in monthly instalments beginning in September.

"The deal reached between the sides is worthy and appropriately reflects the deeds and their severity on the criminal level," Chen said in his ruling.

The 60-year-old, a high-profile presence at her husband's side throughout his long tenure in office, was initially charged in June 2018 with fraud and breach of trust for paying $100,000 (85,000 euros) for meals from well-known Jerusalem businesses.

She had done so while falsely declaring there was no cook available at the premier's official residence.

The amended indictment, approved Sunday, dropped the graft charges, replacing them with "obtaining a benefit by deliberately exploiting the mistake of another person".

"Despite the fact that cooks were employed at the residence the accused instructed staff at the residence, as a matter of normal practice, to order prepared meals from restaurants for herself, her family and visitors."

The tiny courtroom at the Jerusalem magistrates' court was packed with journalists.

"As in every plea bargain, each side makes concessions, sometimes hard concessions," prosecutor Erez Padan said.

"It is right and proper for the public interest to bring this case to an end."

Israelis have organised repeated protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 

who also faces potential indictment in graft cases (AFP Photo/GALI TIBBON)

'Made of steel'

Netanyahu's attorney Yossi Cohen told the court his client had already been heavily punished by the media.

"Four years of ugly leaks and denigrations" constituted "inhuman punishment", he said.

"No other person could have withstood this, this lady is made of steel," Cohen added.

Husband Benjamin Netanyahu dubbed the case "surrealist" in a video posted online.

"I am telling you, if this wasn't a matter concerning my wife, there would never have been an investigation," the prime minister said.

Sara Netanyahu has a reputation for finding legal loopholes to receive state funding for her household's relatively high expenses.

"On a number of occasions she instructed that restaurant chefs be brought in to cook for guests at the residence, all in deliberate exploitation of the bookkeepers' mistakes," the amended charge sheet said.

The caterers included an Italian restaurant, a Middle Eastern grill joint and a Sushi house.

The prosecution attorneys put a positive face on what was generally considered a good outcome for Sara Netanyahu Sunday.

"The significance of this ruling is that a person with access to public funds, as senior as they may be, cannot use them as their own," Padan's co-counsel Jenny Avni told reporters outside the courtroom.

"Taking significant amounts of public funds over several years, in violation of the rules and procedures, is a criminal offence carrying with it a conviction and a real financial penalty."

Sara Netanyahu is also being sued by a former cleaner who claims the premier's wife mistreated her.

In 2016 a court awarded some $47,000 in damages to a former housekeeper who accused her of repeated workplace abuse in a similar case.

Separately, Benjamin Netanyahu is facing possible indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the months ahead.

Two people wearing t-shirts with the message "crime minister" were barred from entering the court for his wife's hearing on Sunday.

He is reportedly seeking legislation that would result in him being granted immunity.

Netanyahu was unable to form a coalition following an April general election, and Israel is now gearing up for September polls.

US bishops approve changes to Church law on sex abuse reporting

Yahoo – AFP, Cyril JULIEN, June 13, 2019

US bishops have approved a change to Church law on reporting sex abuse first
announced by Pope Francis in May 2019 (AFP Photo/Filippo MONTEFORTE)

Washington (AFP) - The Catholic Church in the United States, which has been rocked in recent years by child sex abuse scandals and investigations, on Thursday approved a papal document that requires clergy to report suspicions of sexual assault.

At a meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, participants approved by a large majority the changes to the US catechism, which also reinforces systems in place for victims to signal alleged abuse.

The "motu proprio" -- a legal document issued under Pope Francis's personal authority -- declares that anyone who has knowledge of abuse, or suspects it, is "obliged to report (it) promptly" to the Church, using "easily accessible systems."

The law only applies within the Church and has no force to oblige individuals to report abuse to civil authorities.

Under the new measure, every diocese around the world is obliged by June 2020 to create a system for the reporting of sexual abuse by clerics, the use of child pornography and cover-ups of abuse.

Until now, clergy only reported sexual abuse according to their own consciences.

"We approved some motions that will help us to move forward, especially in light of bishops' accountability... and reaffirming the need of lay expertise to help us in our work," said conference spokesman Michael Burbidge.

Victims' rights groups cried foul, especially about the lack of obligation to report any alleged crimes to the police.

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, said the bishops' policy of "self-policing" was not enough and could lead to continued abuse.

"US bishops do not operate a self-governing country when it comes to criminal acts against children," said SNAP board member Becky Ianni.

'Predator' priests

The Church is in the throes of a major crisis of confidence in the United States, with multiple revelations of sexual assault and abuse committed by priests nationwide, notably targeting children, over the course of decades.

Those priests were largely shielded from prosecution by their superiors.

In August 2018, a devastating report from a Pennsylvania grand jury revealed that more than 300 "predator" priests had allegedly abused over 1,000 children across seven decades.

That scandal forced the resignation of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who served as a bishop in Pennsylvania and was blamed for not doing enough to deal with pedophile priests.

Another influential US cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, was defrocked earlier this year over accusations that he sexually abused a teenage boy in the 1970s.

Bishop Michael Bransfield stepped down last year amid allegations that he sexually harassed adults.

The Catholic Church is not the only one under scrutiny in the United States.

Also this week, delegates attending the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Alabama easily approved a resolution to bar congregations where allegations of sexual abuse are mishandled.

The decision marked a significant change for a church with 15 million members. The Southern Baptist Convention is largely decentralized and individual churches are largely autonomous.

Related Articles:

Pope changes Church law to make reporting sex abuse obligatory

Pope Francis meets with leaders from the US church at the Vatican on Thursday

to discuss claims of sexual abuse by clergy (AFP Photo/Handout)

Vatican defrocks former US cardinal for sex abuse of minor
Pope says Church can no longer tolerate silence on abuse

Pope meets with US church leaders over clergy sex abuse

US cardinals defend themselves over cover-up storm

Pennsylvania report lists more than 300 'predator' priests

US cardinal caught up in abuse scandal resigns

Sex abuse claims rock Dutch Catholic Church

Pope accepts resignation of 3 Chilean bishops in sex abuse scandal

Australian archbishop gets 12 months for concealing child abuse
Germany's Catholic Church 'ashamed' by child sex abuse 

Part of the painting, said to one of the highlights of the Vatican collection

Jesus and Joseph, UK, May 27, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… I gave you a channelling years ago when Pope John Paul was alive. John Paul loved Mary, the mother. Had John Paul survived another 10 years, he would have done what the next Pope [The one after the current one, Benedict XVI] will do, and that is to bring women into the Church. This Pope you have now [Benedict XVI] won't be here long.* The next Pope will be the one who has to change the rules, should he survive. If he doesn't, it will be the one after that.

There it a large struggle within the Church, even right now, and great dissention, for it knows that it is not giving what humanity wants. The doctrine is not current to the puzzles of life. The answer will be to create a better balance between the feminine and masculine, and the new Pope, or the one after that, will try to allow women to be in the higher echelon of the Church structure to assist the priests.

It will be suggested to let women participate in services, doing things women did not do before. This graduates them within church law to an equality with priests, but doesn't actually let them become priests just yet. However, don't be surprised if this begins in another way, and instead gives priests the ability to marry. This will bring the feminine into the church in other ways. It will eventually happen and has to happen. If it does not, it will be the end of the Catholic Church, for humanity will not sustain a spiritual belief system that is out of balance with the love of God and also out of balance with intuitive Human awareness. 

India court orders release of jailed journalist

Yahoo – AFP, June 11, 2019

India's supreme court said its order to release the freelance journalist did not
reflect approval of his social media posts (AFP Photo/Sajjad HUSSAIN)

A journalist jailed for making derogatory comments on social media against a chief minister with the ruling-right wing party was ordered released by India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Prashant Kanojia, a freelance journalist, was arrested Saturday after he uploaded and commented on a video of a woman claiming to be in love with Yogi Adityanath, a firebrand Hindu monk who is chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state.

"The judges have directed (the) immediate release of Prashant today," defence lawyer Shadan Farasat told reporters.

Local media reports said the judges had criticised the high-handed manner of Kanojia's arrest, calling it "illegal" and "unconstitutional".

The court however said its order should not be seen as approval of Kanojia's social media posts and that legal proceedings against him would continue according to law.

The head of a local news channel that broadcast the video shared by Kanojia has also been arrested along with one of the editors, for operating without a license.

A fourth person was arrested Monday for allegedly uploading altered images of Adityanath on Facebook.

The Editors Guild of India had slammed Kanojia's arrest, calling the police action "arbitrary" and "an authoritarian misuse of laws".

"The Guild sees it as an effort to intimidate the press, and stifle freedom of expression," it said in a statement on Sunday.

In recent years, laws have frequently been deployed by politicians from all parties seeking to stifle social media criticism.

Last month, a ruling party activist was arrested for posting a meme on opposition West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She was later released on bail by the Supreme Court.

A journalist in northeastern Manipur state was jailed last year for allegedly criticising the state's BJP chief minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Russian journalist walks free as drugs charges dropped after outcry

Yahoo – AFP, Anna SMOLCHENKO, June 11, 2019

Russian investigative journalist Ivan Golunov walks free from a Moscow police
station after drug charges against him are dropped (AFP Photo/Vasily MAXIMOV)

Moscow (AFP) - A Russian investigative journalist walked free late Tuesday after authorities in Moscow dropped drug charges against him in a rare climbdown by law enforcement following a public outcry.

Ivan Golunov, a reporter with independent media outlet Meduza, walked out of the gates of a Moscow police building to cheers from waiting journalist and wept as he thanked supporters.

"This all happened so quickly and thank you for that, that you supported me. I think it somehow influenced the course of events," Golunov said, with tears running down his cheeks.

He said he hoped his case would change police practices and "such situations will not happen again to anyone in this country."

The journalist vowed to continue his investigative reporting for Meduza, which is based in EU-member Latvia to allow it to work more freely.

"I will be doing investigations because I have to justify the trust of those who supported me," he said.

The 36-year-old was detained last week on charges supporters said were trumped up to punish him for his investigative work and placed under house arrest.

The case sparked outrage in Russia and abroad over what critics slammed as the impunity and corruption of law enforcement agencies.

In a surprise announcement on Tuesday Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said Golunov was to be released from house arrest and charges against him lifted.

Kolokoltsev also said he would ask President Vladimir Putin to sack the head of a Moscow police department and another senior official in charge of drug control in the capital.

The EU welcomed the news, with a European Commission spokesperson calling it a "positive outcome", but demanding a probe into reports police beat Golunov in detention.

Journalists and activists reacted with joy.

The arrest triggered a public outcry, and Russia's most respected newspapers on 

Monday publishing headlines reading "I am (we are) Ivan Golunov" (AFP Photo/

Yuri KADOBNOV)

"This is victory... I'm crying," said Meduza editor-in-chief Ivan Kolpakov.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny called it "an inspiring and motivating example of what simple solidarity... can achieve".

Golunov's Meduza colleague Ilya Zhegulev told AFP: "An unbelievable event has happened."

"Even the most optimistic didn't believe this would happen, and happen so quickly."

Arrest sparked outrage

Golunov had been charged with attempting to deal a "large amount" of drugs and was placed under house arrest at the weekend, facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The reporter said he was beaten in detention. His lawyers alleged drugs had been planted on him to justify his arrest.

Moscow police admitted photographs published on its website that they said showed drug paraphernalia found at the crime scene were not taken at Golunov's flat.

Golunov's lawyer Sergei Badamshin said Golunov's fingerprints were not found on any of the items police said they seized during a search of his flat.

The officers who arrested Golunov last week have been suspended pending an investigation, Kolokoltsev said.

"I believe that irrespective of any citizen's professional activities his rights should always be protected," the minister added.

After Golunov's arrest, hundreds protested outside a court and the Moscow police headquarters.

Supporters had organised a march to happen in Moscow for Wednesday to press for his freedom. But Golunov as he walked free said he would prefer supporters spend time with "loved ones and family."

Journalists and activists reacted with joy to Gulonov's release (AFP Photo/

Vasily MAXIMOV)

'We are Ivan Golunov'

The international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders hailed what it called the "historic mobilisation of the Russian civil society".

"Now those who tried to set him up must be judged," the NGO wrote on Twitter.

"We are happy that the authorities listened to society," the editorial team of Meduza and several other prominent journalists said in a statement. "This is just the beginning, a lot of work lies ahead."

As part of an unprecedented campaign of solidarity, major newspapers Kommersant, Vedomosti and RBK published the same front page on Monday with headline "I am/we are Ivan Golunov" in giant letters.

Even some staunchly pro-Kremlin television journalists such as RT chief editor Margarita Simonyan expressed support for the independent reporter.

Golunov has investigated everything from Russia's shady funeral industry to corruption at Moscow city hall.

His release came a month after days of protests forced authorities to backtrack over plans to build a controversial new cathedral in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

During his two decades in power, Putin has silenced most of his critics and sought to muzzle the media.

The few opposition and independent media that still operate in Russia are under huge pressure, Kremlin critics say.

The Meduza website is based in Latvia to circumvent censorship, but some of its journalists like Golunov live in Russia.