The 31-year-old former defence reporter, who faces as much as 20 years in jail, denounces the case in opposition to him as ‘travesty’.
A outstanding former Russian journalist, who went on trial for treason on Monday, insisted he was harmless and denounced the case that might see him jailed for as much as 20 years.
Ivan Safronov stands accused of “state treason within the type of espionage”, allegedly dedicated whereas he was nonetheless a journalist.
Sitting in a glass enclosure within the Moscow metropolis courtroom, Safronov, 31, seemed pale however nonetheless managed to smile, in keeping with the AFP information company.
Journalists have been allowed into the courtroom for less than the opening of the trial, which is being held behind closed doorways.
Russian media have been underneath growing strain lately and unbiased shops have shut down because the starting of Russia’s navy motion in Ukraine.
Safronov was arrested in July 2020, simply two months after leaving journalism to function an adviser to the pinnacle of the state house company, Roscosmos.
Disclosing secrets and techniques
Ivan Pavlov, previously one among Safronov’s attorneys, stated after the arrest that investigators had accused Safronov of revealing secrets and techniques about Russian arms deliveries to the Center East and Africa in 2017, whereas he was working for the Kommersant newspaper.
He cited investigators as saying the secrets and techniques had later been shared with america.
Pavlov himself got here underneath felony investigation after being accused of revealing categorized info whereas defending Safronov and fled Russia final September, saying he had been positioned on a wished record.
“For a yr and 9 months I've been pressured to say that I'm responsible of excessive treason,” Safronov stated in a press release launched forward of the trial. “However I repeat and can repeat – I'm not responsible.”
The FSB safety service has accused Safronov of gathering confidential details about the Russian navy, defence, and safety and handing it over to the intelligence of a NATO member nation.
Safronov stated his reporting was primarily based on evaluation of open sources and conversations with officers, including that he had not been instructed what constituted treason in his case.
“Simply put your self in my place – they're telling you that you've got dedicated against the law, however they don't seem to be telling you what crime precisely,” he stated. “How will you defend your self in opposition to this absurdity? This can be a full travesty of justice and customary sense!”
‘Harmless particular person’
Pavlov stated his former consumer was tried behind closed doorways to restrict info for the general public in regards to the case.
“It is rather handy to guage an harmless particular person when journalists can't attend a listening to and inform the entire of Russia that each one the costs have been pulled out of skinny air,” he stated on Fb.
Safronov’s arrest sparked an uproar amongst supporters, a few of whom took to the streets of Moscow to protest.
His attorneys have stated that his arrest was the primary time in practically 20 years that a journalist was arrested and jailed on treason prices.
A rising variety of Russians in different professions have lately been accused of excessive treason or disclosing state secrets and techniques.
Safronov adopted within the footsteps of his journalist father, who additionally coated defence for broadsheet Kommersant.
Ivan Safronov senior died in 2007 after falling out of a window. On the time of his loss of life, he was engaged on a narrative about Russia sending an air defence system and planes to Iran and Syria.
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