Moscow City Court left Ivan Safronov under arrest until May 7

Former special correspondent for Vedomosti and Kommersant, Ivan Safronov, has been held in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center since July 7, 2020. He is accused of treason under Art. 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation for allegedly transferring secret data on the activities of the Russian army abroad to Czech intelligence in 2017. Safronov does not admit his guilt.

“On March 2, the Lefortovo court, at the request of the investigation, extended the arrest until May 7. After the last court decision to extend the arrest, lawyer Ivan Pavlov said that a secret witness had appeared in the case under the pseudonym Lander”, - Kommersant reports.

Safronov's defense believes that the investigation into the high treason case may be completed by July this year. According to the lawyer Ivan Pavlov, despite the long-term detention of his client in custody, the FSB has not yet concretized the charges against Safronov, has not familiarized the defense with most of the case materials and is not actively investigating Safronov's case.

The journalist's defense presented about 300 personal guarantees of Russian politicians and journalists in support of Ivan Safronov. The lawyers asked to change Safronov's measure of restraint from imprisonment in a pre-trial detention center to any other, but the court rejected this request.