During the discussion of the parties, Prosecutor Boris Loktionov asked the court to sentence the head of Roskosmos, former correspondent of Kommersant and Vedomosti, Ivan Safronov, to 24 years in prison in a strict regime colony on charges of treason.
“The representative of the state prosecutor’s office demanded that Safronov be found guilty of treason and sentenced to 24 years in prison to serve in a tight regime colony,” the court said.
As lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov explained, the prosecutor asked Safronov for 17 years for the episode with the head of the Czech analytical center, Martin Larisch, and 19 years for the episode where the political scientist Demuri Voronin was charged with treason.
The prosecutor’s office also demanded that the journalist be fined 500,000 rubles, “seizure of the proceeds of crime” and a two-year restriction on freedom after his release. It includes a ban on visiting certain places and requires regular reporting to the inspection.
“Before the discussion, the prosecution offered a 12-year prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty,” Smirnov said.
The investigator several times offered Safronov to make a deal, including calling his mother, but he refused. The journalist said, “By the way, I made my choice, there is no agreement.”
Due to the peculiarities of the case regarding state secrets, the process takes place in a closed manner from the press and audience. The case is being examined by a tripartite judge, chaired by Dmitry Gordeev. On August 30, the defense challenged the entire structure of the court. Safronov’s decision will be announced on September 5. The court said it will announce the length of the sentence in open mode.
Witness pleaded not guilty
On August 29, Safronov’s defender, Ivan Pavlov, stated that he had retracted the testimony of political scientist Demuri Voronin, the prosecution’s key witness. According to Pavlov, Voronin himself is accused of treason (he was arrested in Moscow in February 2021) and agreed to a deal with the investigation. The condition of the agreement was to testify against Safronov in exchange for a reduced sentence.
“However, he retracted what he said at the court during the investigation and made other statements in favor of Safronov,” the lawyer said.
He added that Safronov and Voronin were introduced by journalist and HRC member Ekaterina Vinokurova. “He also testified at the trial, but against Safronov,” the lawyer said.
According to him, the prosecution did not provide evidence that the journalist knew of his information sources’ connections with foreign intelligence services. In this context, the defense insists that Safronov was engaged in journalistic activities, which the state prosecutor’s office tried to interpret as intelligence.
Previously, lawyers had requested that the case be returned to the prosecutor’s office due to some violations, but the court rejected this request.
Larish was not called for interrogation
In addition, the Moscow City Court refused to summon Czech citizen Martin Larisch for questioning. According to the investigation, Safronov gave him classified information.
“The prosecution claims that Safronov forwarded the case materials to Larish and handed it over to NATO special services,” lawyer Yevgeny Smirnov told TASS.
He noted that the defense questioned Larish, but the court refused to include those statements in the case file.
According to Larisch’s testimony, he did not receive secret materials from Safronov, but rather insisted on writing articles containing opinions and comments. He also said that he is planning a joint journalistic project with Safronov, which has nothing to do with obtaining classified information.
What is the journalist accused of?
Ivan Safronov has been detained in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center for more than two years. He was detained on 7 July 2020 for treason. He doesn’t admit his guilt. According to Safronov, he was engaged only in journalistic activities and had no access to state secrets. He believes that he is being persecuted for his professional activities.
Roscosmos stressed that Safronov had no access to state secrets and that his case had nothing to do with working for a state company.
After the journalist was detained, the editorial offices of a number of Russian media outlets, notably Kommersant, Forbes, RBC and Vedomosti, expressed their support for Safronov and called for his case to be evaluated publicly, not behind closed doors. In response, the Kremlin said media coverage supporting Safronov was “based on emotion” and “has nothing to do with professionalism”.
According to investigators, in 2012 Safronov was recruited by a representative of the Czech intelligence service, and in 2017 he gave confidential information on the military-technical cooperation of Russia with African countries. According to investigators, the ultimate recipient of classified information was the United States.
The investigation also claims that in December 2015, Safronov provided political scientist Demuri Voronin, who has dual citizenship of Russia and Germany, for $248, about the activities of the Russian Armed Forces in Syria, and forwarded this information to the representatives of the Russian Federation. University of Zurich and the German Federal Intelligence Service.
Source: Gazeta
