Russia accuses another journalist of 'treason'

Moscow's notorious Lefortovo jail has a new inmate. Thirty-year-old Ivan Safronov, who left journalism in May to become an adviser to Dmitry Rogozin, the director general of Russia's Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, was arrested on Tuesday. The Federal Security Service (FSB) accuses him of treason, spying and handing over state secrets regarding arms deals.

On Tuesday, Safronov's lawyers told media that the FSB has accused him of passing information about Russian arms sales in Africa and military maneuvers in the Middle East to Czech security officials, who would then pass the intelligence to their US counterparts. The Czech agents approached Safronov in 2012, according to the charges. The Foreign Ministry in Prague did not respond to inquiries from various media outlets this week.

A video released by the FSB shows Safronov being handcuffed by armed men near his Moscow home and taken away in a small grey van. He is expected to spend at least two months in jail awaiting trial. If he is convicted, he risks between 12 and 20 years in jail. Safronov insists that he is innocent.

Before joining Roscosmos, Safronov had worked as a journalist, particularly for the prominent business dailies Kommersant and Vedomosti. He specialized in the military and space sectors. Roscosmos quickly released a statement indicating that the charges had nothing to do with Safronov's role there.

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'Absurd' accusation

Dissidents in Russia have expressed increasing concern that authorities are ramping up their attacks on the press. On Monday, the journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva was found guilty of "justifying terrorism" on a radio program and fined 500,000 rubles (€6,250/$7,060) in the city of Pskov in western Russia.

Prosecutors had requested a six-year prison sentence. Prokopyeva said she had avoided jail thanks to the protests of her colleagues.

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There has also been broad solidarity for Safronov. Kommersant called the accusation of treason "absurd." Journalists protested outside the FSB's headquarters Moscow on Tuesday, and many were briefly detained. Further demonstrations were held on Wednesday in Moscow and in the provinces.

Journalists have speculated as to why Safronov was targeted and which articles might have drawn the ire of authorities. "Weapons are a very important topic for the people in power, symbolically," a former Kommersant colleague of Safronov's said. He said that there were many in places of power in Russia who might have it in for Safronov — "from representatives of the weapons industry to the FSB."

Multiple outlets reported that the likely article was about a Russian deal to sell fighter jets to Egypt that had upset US officials. The journalist, activist and university lecturer Olga Romanova, who once taught Safronov, said she also believed that the accusations were related to the 2019 article. His lawyers have not confirmed this.

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The number of guilty verdicts in treason trials in Russia doubled from four in 2018 to eight in 2019. They look set to increase even more this year. There have already been a dozen cases. Though hearings take place behind closed doors and very few details trickle out, there seems to be a focus on scientists.

Vladimir Neelov, who wrote about military contractors in Russia, was found guilty of treason earlier in July and sentenced to seven years in a penal colony by a St. Petersburg court. At a press conference, it was said that Neelov had been convicted of selling information on training FSB staff to a German company. He is reported to have accepted partial guilt — saying he had not known that the information was secret. Media have speculated that Neelov was put on trial in retaliation for writing about mercenaries working for the Russian paramilitary organization PMC Wagner, which is reported to have sent troops to Ukraine and Syria.