The state prosecution requested 24 years in a strict regime colony for Ivan Safronov

“The representative of the state prosecution demanded that Safronov be found guilty of treason and sentenced to 24 years in prison in a strict regime colony,” the Moscow City Court reported (TASS quote ).

The case is being heard behind closed doors. The defendant's lawyer, Dmitry Katchev, confirmed the prosecutor's request.

“The prosecutor asked to sentence Ivan to 24 years in a strict regime colony,” Katchev said in an interview with RIA Novosti .

Safronov was detained and arrested on July 7, 2020. A criminal case of treason was initiated against him. According to law enforcement officials, the ex-correspondent and adviser to the head of Roskosmos passed on secret information about Russian military-technical cooperation in the defense sector to one of NATO's special services.

The defense stated that Safronov has been suspected of collaborating with the Czech special services since 2012, and the case says that he passed on information about the supply of weapons to African countries for personal gain. The final recipient of the data, according to investigators, was the United States. In another episode of the case, Safronov is charged with transferring to political scientist Demuri Voronin information about the activities of the Russian military in Syria, which was subsequently received by representatives of the University of Zurich and intelligence of Germany. Voronin himself is also a defendant in the treason case. According to the defense, he was involved as a witness for the prosecution in the Safronov case and gave evidence testifying to the innocence of the defendant.

The Prosecutor General's Office notes that the ex-journalist on a reimbursable basis "systematically passed on to representatives of foreign intelligence services, realizing that this information could be used by NATO member states against the security of the Russian Federation."

Safronov does not admit his guilt and does not agree with any of the charges.