Putin did not assess the fairness of the sentence to Safronov

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not assess the fairness of the court’s decision to sentence the former journalist of Vedomosti and Kommersant and ex-adviser to the head of Roscosmos Ivan Safronov to 22 years in prison in a case of treason.

“I don’t know the details, I know that I was not only a journalist, but also an adviser to the head of Roskosmos. He earned money not only by journalistic activities, but also by collecting relevant materials and handing them over to one of the Western intelligence services. Counterintelligence worked for him for several years, sat on the channels of communication with those who paid him money for closed and secret information. <...>. The court considered this proven and made a corresponding judgment. How fair it is in terms of the term that he received for what he did, I don’t presume to judge, ”said the president, speaking at a plenary meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF).

Putin also recalled the prosecutor’s ability to challenge the court’s decision if he considers the sentence too harsh. Earlier, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov called Safronov’s sentence “severe” and said that if the convict wants to ask for pardon, he will have to admit guilt.

On September 5, the Moscow City Court found Safronov guilty on two counts of treason and sentenced him to 22 years in prison, initially the prosecution asked for 24 years for him. Safronov’s defense will appeal against the court’s verdict and seek acquittal.

The former journalist was detained in July 2020. According to the intelligence service, Safronov was recruited back in 2012, and in 2017 he handed over information about the supply of arms and the actions of the Russian armed forces in Africa and the Middle East to the head of the Czech analytical center, Martin Larisch. In total, he was charged with seven texts in which state secrets were found, one of which he handed over to political scientist with Russian-German citizenship Demuri Voronin, who was detained in February 2021 on suspicion of treason during a visit to Moscow. Already in November 2021, Safronov’s lawyers reported that the political scientist, according to some reports, admitted to recruiting an ex-journalist. According to Safronov’s lawyer Ivan Pavlov, who is recognized as a foreign agent in Russia, these texts “are journalistic articles based solely on open sources.”

Subscribe on “Vedomosti” in Telegram and stay up to date with the main news of the economy and business