As of: 12/07/2022 5:51 p.m
Former Russian journalist Safronov has lost his appeals process. He is now to be in a penal colony with difficult conditions for 22 years. Even by Russian standards, this is a harsh verdict.
Former Russian journalist Ivan Safronov has lost his appeals process. This is reported by the Russian state news agency RIA. Safronov had resisted his sentence to 22 years in a prison camp under strict prison conditions, which is a harsh sentence even by Russian standards. When the judge, as expected, dismissed the appeal, Safronov responded with a laugh.
The judgment is now final. In addition, Safronov was sentenced to a fine of 500,000 rubles and an additional two years’ imprisonment for high treason. He is said to have passed on state secrets to western intelligence services. Safronov has always denied this. Most recently, and until his arrest in 2020, he was an adviser to the head of Russia’s space agency Roskosmos.
Reports on military accidents and explosive arms deals
As a journalist, Safronov had previously written about accidents in the Russian military and explosive arms deals, including a controversial sale of Russian fighter jets to Egypt. The information he used was all publicly available.
The prosecution never presented any evidence to the contrary, his lawyers said during the original trial. Investigations were also launched against three of them.
With information from Christina Nagel and Annette Kammerer, ARD Studio Moscow
22 years imprisonment for Russian journalist Safronov: appeal rejected
Annette Kammerer, ARD Moscow, December 7, 2022 5:16 p.m