In July 2020, Ivan Safronov, a Russian journalist, former employee of Kommersant and Vedomosti newspapers, and advisor to Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos Corporation, was detained. Safronov has been in custody ever since. Ivan Safronov was convicted of cooperating with the Czech special services and transferring secret materials about Russian arms deliveries and the actions of the Russian Armed Forces, in Africa and the Middle East. On July 13, 2020, the FSB investigation charged Ivan Safronov with treason. Ivan faces 20 years in prison.
In July 2021, an article by Ivan Safronov appeared in the Vedomosti newspaper. He wrote about the problems with articles about treason in Russia. According to the journalist, they were prosecuted “against a specific person, not because of the leakage of any information abroad”. A few hours after the publication, the Vedomosti website was blocked for a while, and later it became known that the article had been removed from it.
“At the moment, investigative actions in the case of Safronov have been completed. Materials of the case were handed over to the defense and the accused for familiarization. After that, the case will go to the prosecutor’s office for approval “, – said the interlocutor of the agency.
The lawyer defending Ivan Safronov was accused of disclosing the investigation into the case of the journalist. The investigation believes that the lawyer disclosed the secret witness in Ivan’s case and gave the media a copy of the decree from the investigation materials. He also faces up to three months’ detention and disbarment.The lawyer has now left Russia and is wanted for arrest.
“We hope that the investigation will draw the necessary conclusions. We hope that Ivan will be free”, – commented Rogozin on the radio «Komsomolskaya Truth».
After Ivan Safronov’s arrest, other journalists are afraid to take on such topics. Journalists believe that the risks of being investigated under Article 275 of the Criminal Code (high treason) are quite high.
