A Russian court docket on Monday sentenced a former journalist to 22 years in jail on fees of treason after prosecutors stated he disclosed state secrets and techniques, a ruling his supporters stated was a harsh punishment that crippled the media in Russia. exhibits the absence of independence.
Ivan Safronov, a former protection reporter for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, was arrested in 2020 as an adviser to the top of Russia’s area company and charged with disclosing labeled data.
Safronov’s legal professionals stated they might attraction the choice. His supporters say the case is a retaliation for his reporting that uncovered particulars of Russia’s worldwide arms offers.
Speaking exterior the courtroom, Safronov’s lawyer Dmitry Katachev stated he was nearly misplaced for phrases within the verdict.
“Safronov was awarded 22 years for his journalistic activity. I want each of you, who are looking at me now, to think whether it is worth staying in this profession. If someone was given 22 years to do his job,” he advised reporters.
Human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov stated the sentence was “a brutal, demonstrably brutal punishment in line with the current situation in Russia.”
He stated that he didn’t discover any occasion of any case of sedition, which has led to such an extended sentence, not to mention in opposition to a journalist.
Prosecutors stated Safronov shared state secrets and techniques about Russia’s arms gross sales within the Middle East to the Czech Republic’s overseas intelligence arm. He has denied the fees and final month rejected a plea deal through which he was sentenced to 12 years in jail.
His arrest in July 2020 sparked outrage amongst Russian journalists, together with state-run retailers. The European Union known as on Russia to drop all fees in opposition to Safronov and to launch him unconditionally.
After his arrest, the Kremlin known as Safronov a “talented journalist”, however repeatedly denied involvement within the case.
Journalists collect in entrance of a display screen throughout a video hyperlink listening to the case of Ivan Safronov, the top of the Roscosmos area company and aide who’s in custody on state treason fees, in Moscow, Russia in September. 5, 2022. (Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina)
Safronov, 32, denied the allegations, saying the data he’s accused of giving to the Czech Republic was all open supply public data.
During the trial his authorized staff revealed hyperlinks to 19 revealed articles and authorities statements that prosecutors declare are “state secrets” Safronov is accused of passing on to Czech overseas intelligence.
His legal professionals stated in a press release, “Ivan never sent any secret information anywhere – for money or for free … He was an ordinary journalist, doing his job honestly.”
His protection staff believes the check is retaliation for Safronov who reveals Russia’s plan to promote the fighter jet to Egypt. The estimated $2 billion deal was quickly canceled after the US threatened sanctions on Cairo if it went forward.
Ahead of Monday’s court docket listening to, a number of impartial Russian media retailers known as for Safronov to be launched. In a press release, retailers together with Meduza, Novaya Gazeta and TV Rain stated it was “obvious” that Safronov was being punished for his reporting on Russia’s army procurement offers that upset the Defense Ministry.
The heavy sentence – extra generally in homicide instances than in Russian courts – is seen by the Kremlin as a setback in opposition to Russian reporting amid the depth of strain on press freedom since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. .
Separately on Monday, a Moscow court docket revoked the publishing license of Novaya Gazeta, a number one impartial newspaper that was purported to be revealed days after Russia despatched tens of 1000’s of troops to Ukraine and imposed robust new controls on media retailers. Closed. (Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Guy Faulconbridge)
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
