The Ivan Safronov case Here’s what we know so far about the arrest of a Russian journalist on treason charges.
On Tuesday, July 7, the authorities in Moscow arrested former Kommersant and Vedomosti correspondent Ivan Safronov, now an adviser to the head of the Russian space corporation “Roscosmos,” on suspicion of treason. The first media outlet to report the incident was the Telegram channel Life Shot, which also published video footage of the arrest. A source told the news agency TASS that agents from the Federal Security Service arrested Safronov. Roscosmos has confirmed Safronov’s arrest, but insists that the charges are not related to his work for the state corporation. Officials searched the journalist’s home and — according to a source with ties to the FSB who spoke to Open Russia — also seized Safronov’s documents at his Roscosmos office. Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin says Safronov did not have access to classified data in his role as his adviser.
Safronov has been denied access to his lawyers. At least two lawyers have tried to visit Safronov in custody: Oleg Eliseyev of the “Open Russia Human Rights” project and Sergey Badamshin, who’s worked as a defense attorney in at least two other high-profile cases, helping Moscow State University student Varvara Karaulova and Meduza journalist Ivan Golunov. At the time of this writing, the FSB has refused to let Safronov meet with any attorneys.
more : /meduza.io/
