Ivan Safronov was accused of espionage and treason, but the journalist himself claims that he wrote materials based on open sources. According to him, his sentence means that “in Russia, journalistic work is a crime.”
Ivan Safronov, a former Kommersant correspondent and adviser to the head of Roscosmos, was sentenced to 22 years in a strict regime colony and fined 500,000 Russian rubles (about $8,200) on a treason charge. On Monday, September 5, Kommersant reports.
Safronov was arrested in July 2020, since then he has been in prison. According to the FSB, Safronov cooperated with the Czech and German intelligence services and passed information “on Russia’s military-technical cooperation with a Middle Eastern African state.” The FSB claimed that in 2015 Safronov told political scientist Demuri Voronin, who has Russian and German citizenship, information about Russian troops in Syria, and in 2017, through his friend Czech Martin Larysh, he passed secret information to the Czech special services.
According to an investigation by the publication of the Agency, which obtained an indictment in Safronov’s case, none of the witnesses for the prosecution knew anything about the crimes the journalist was charged with. The FSB claims that Safronov learned of information containing state secrets from officials who had access to it. But according to their testimony, none of them passed secret information to the journalist. The Proekt edition studied the documents in the journalist’s case and came to the conclusion that most of the “secret” information he allegedly passed on to the West was freely available on the Internet.
It was noted that the prosecutor’s office requested 24 years in prison for Safronov.
Safronov connected the criminal case with his journalistic activities. In his last speech, he said that to find him guilty “is to subscribe to the fact that writing articles on open sources is equal to a crime, it means admitting that in Russia journalistic work is a crime. “
“If I am destined to sit in prison, then I will serve my term with honor and dignity. There is not and never has been corpus delicti in my actions. I insist on my innocence and ask for a full exoneration -living room,” said Safronov.
Those present at the announcement of the verdict began to applaud, chanting “Freedom!”, “Vanya, it won’t be long!”, “Vanya, hold on!”, but Safronov was quickly removed.
The journalist’s lawyer Daniil Nikiforov said the defense intends to appeal the verdict.
It was previously reported that the Russian Federation committed 413 crimes against journalists and media in Ukraine 413 crimes.
Remember that German journalists were attacked in Lisichansk. This time, none of the journalists were hurt.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.