Russian prosecutors asked Tuesday for Russian journalist Ivan Safronov to be sentenced to 24 years in jail on treason charges, his lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov said on Facebook.
The charges against Safronov date to when he was working for top Russian newspapers Vedomosti and Kommersant where he reported on the Russian defense industry.
“The prosecutors offered a 12-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea,” Smirnov said of the court hearing Tuesday. Safronov, 32, refused to take that deal.
Safronov denies accusations that he collected confidential information about Russia’s military and handed it over to Western intelligence agents.
“I have been a journalist all my life and there has never been any espionage,” Safronov said in a statement released earlier this month. His trial is taking place behind closed doors.
Investigative media outlet Proekt published court documents from Safronov’s case Monday, arguing that the “classified” information Safronov allegedly passed to the West is all publicly available online.
Safronov’s lawyers said Tuesday in a Telegram post that all witnesses for the prosecution admitted in court that Safronov “did not break the law and did not ferret out state secrets.”
Arrested in July 2020, Safronov has been in pre-trial custody ever since.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
