Prasannkumar 
Moscow court found an ex-journalist guilty of treason. He was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment in a maximum security prison
An ex-journalist was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison on Monday. This trial, widely viewed as politically motivated, marked a new step towards a broad crackdown against the media and Kremlin criticisms.
His colleagues have harshly criticized the sentence given to Ivan Safronov. He was a journalist for military affairs at Kommersant and then became an adviser to Roscosmos’ head.
A few of Safronov’s friends and coworkers were there to support him Monday at the Moscow City Court. They chanted Freedom! After the verdict was read, they clapped.
Safronov was accused in a case of passing military secrets to a German national and Czech intelligence. He insists on his innocence and argues that he obtained all information from open sources in his journalistic work.
Safronov, in his final testimony at the trial, said that the charges were absurd and noted that all information he had gathered from sources within government agencies or military industries was published.
He stressed that he had never been privy to classified documents and that investigators have not produced any witness testimony to support the espionage accusations.
Safronov called the lengthy sentence demanded by prosecutors monstrous and said that it would damage the country’s image, showing that a journalist is simply sentenced for his work. The sentence was quickly appealed by his defense.
Russian journalists and human rights activists are pushing for Safronov’s freedom. They believe that the authorities wanted revenge for reporting on Russian military incidents.
Minutes before Safronov was sentenced by Moscow City Court, fifteen independent Russian media outlets made a joint demand for his release.
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