A Russian investigative journalist has been sentenced to 22 years in jail on prices of "excessive treason".
Ivan Safronov was discovered responsible of passing Russian navy secrets and techniques to Czech intelligence. He has rejected the allegations.
Safronov labored as a journalist for a decade, masking navy and safety points for the main Russian enterprise day by day Kommersant, earlier than turning into an adviser to the pinnacle of the Russian area company Roscosmos in Might 2020.
He states that he has collected info from open sources in the midst of his work and did nothing unlawful. Roscosmos has additionally stated that Safronov didn’t have entry to state secrets and techniques and says that the costs didn’t relate to his work.
The previous journalist had additionally rejected a suggestion from prosecutors to admit and obtain a 12-year sentence.
Human rights activists have known as for Safronov’s launch, some claiming that Moscow might have needed to silence him after his reporting uncovered Russian navy incidents and underhand arms offers.
These accused of treason in Russia typically discover it troublesome to defend themselves due to the secrecy surrounding their instances and an absence of public entry to info.
Safronov’s father additionally labored for Kommersant masking navy points after retiring from the armed forces. In 2007, he died after falling from a window of his residence constructing in Moscow.
Safronov's case displays the rising challenges confronted by Russian journalists amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Monday, a Russian court docket additionally revoked the licence of Novaya Gazeta, one of many final unbiased information retailers within the nation.
The investigative newspaper had already suspended its operations amid threats if it shared so-called "pretend information" about Russia's navy.
Russia's state communications watchdog had accused the newspaper of failing to submit "the statutes of the editorial employees" underneath regulation.
"At this time they killed the newspaper," a assertion learn. "They've robbed its workers of 30 years of their lives. They've disadvantaged its readers of the best to info."
A spokeswoman for the Workplace of the Excessive Commissioner for Human Rights additionally denounced the revoking as a "new blow" to the independence of the Russian media.
Novaya Gazeta has revealed investigations into corruption and human rights violations in Russia for almost 30 years.
A number of contributing journalists have been killed, together with Anna Politkovskaya — whose assassination in October 2006 was linked to the Kremlin resulting from her investigative work on crimes dedicated in Chechnya.
Novaya Gazeta's editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov additionally acquired the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for his work underneath threats from Moscow.
On Monday, Novaya Gazeta's editorial employees shared a letter of assist for Safronov, labelling his arrest an act of "revenge".
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