A Moscow court has dropped charges against the Guardian reporter Alec Luhn who faced a fine or community service after he was detained by police during a reporting assignment.

The charge of “violating the order of participating in a public event” came after Luhn was detained by police while covering a protest march in central Moscow on 26 March, organised by the opposition politician Alexei Navalny.

The rally, called in protest over allegations of corruption directed at the prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, was unsanctioned, meaning police did not give permission for it to go ahead. Nonetheless, thousands of people marched along Moscow’s main thoroughfare, Tverskaya.

Alexei Navalny at the rally on 26 March in Moscow. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Luhn was detained in a side street shortly after Navalny had been put into a police bus and driven away, amid skirmishes between protesters and riot police. He was among several people grabbed by police, who began detaining people at random some time after the clashes had subsided.

Police falsely claimed Luhn had been participating in the rally by shouting slogans, and refused to release him even when he said he was a journalist and showed his official foreign ministry accreditation.

After spending several hours in detention, Luhn was released and informed the charges against him would be dropped, but was later summoned to a court hearing.

“This is the first not guilty verdict among all the people brought to court over the 26 March protest,” said Ilya Novikov, the lawyer who represented Luhn in court.

“As of today, we have observed about 800 cases in Tverskoi court, and more than 200 cases in the appeals court, and there hasn’t been one not guilty verdict until now,” said Sergei Sharov-Delaunay of Russia Behind Bars, an NGO that helps prisoners and their families.



While it is standard practice for police to pluck random protesters off the street at unsanctioned rallies, previously journalists have been released without charge.

An estimated 60,000 people attended demonstrations in dozens of cities across Russia on 26 March, an unexpectedly large turnout that alarmed authorities with less than a year remaining until the presidential election next March. Navalny has declared his intention to stand against Vladimir Putin but is unlikely to be let on to the ballot.



Police detained more than 1,000 people in Moscow alone, most of whom were released without charge or with minor infringements. Navalny was sentenced to 15 days in jail. Some have been charged with more serious offences and one man has already been jailed for 18 months.

Luhn’s journalistic accreditation was not enough to stop the charge being brought, but it is possible that diplomatic pressure helped bring about the not guilty verdict.

The British embassy in Moscow has raised the issue privately with Russian authorities and representatives of both the British and American embassies attended the hearing on Tuesday. Luhn is a US citizen.

Navalny has called another protest for 12 June.