Ivan Ivanovich Safronov (; born 18 May 1990) is a Russian journalist. He was arrested in July 2020 on charges of treason related to allegedly disclosing state secrets. A Kremlin spokesman claimed following the arrest that "As far as we know this is not linked to his prior journalistic activity in any way." ''

Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

'' called the charges of treason "absurd".

Journalism and Roscosmos

Ivan Safronov worked on military reporting for ''Kommersant'' until 2019. He later became a journalist at the daily newspaper ''

Vedomosti ( rus, Ведомости, p=ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ, ) is a Russian-language business daily newspaper published in Moscow. History was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Dow Jones, who publishes ''The Wall Street Journal''; Pearson, ...

''. In May 2020, Safronov started work at the Russian space agency

Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...

as a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

advisor to

Dmitry Rogozin Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin (; born 21 December 1963) is a Russian nationalist politician serving as the senator from the Russian-occupied Zaporozhye Oblast since 23 September 2023. He previously served as General Director of Roscosmos from 2018 ...

, the head of Roscosmos.

Legal case

Safronov was arrested in June 2020 and leading journalist Taisia Bekbulatova was arrested on the same day in relation to the case. In June 2019, ''

'' was accused in Russian courts with disclosing state secrets; according to ''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

'', the case was based on an article co-authored by Safronov about Russian sales of fighter jets to Egypt. Safronov was later fired from ''Kommersant'' over a separate article. The entire politics desk of ''Kommersant'' resigned in protest. Safronov was arrested in July 2020 on charges of treason. ''Kommersant'' called the treason charges "absurd". The charges were of collecting secret information about Russian armed forces and giving the information to Czech spies. Safronov stated that the charges were false and that he was being prosecuted for his journalism. In a court hearing in late August/early September 2022, Safronov refused a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

of a 12-year sentence in return for a guilty plea. On 5 September 2022 Safranov was sentenced to 22 years in prison in relation to the treason charges. Safronov's legal team said that it would appeal the verdict. In February 2023, Ivan Safronov was dismissed from the position of adviser to the Director General of

in accordance with the court verdict, under paragraph 4 of part one of Article 83 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Legal validity

Safronov's legal team stated that the trial included legal violations and that prosecution witnesses had stated that Safronov had not violated the law. Among Safronov's lawyers, a criminal investigation for allegedly revealing secret information was opened against Ivan Pavlov as a suspect, and Pavlov left Russia in 2021; and Dmitry Talantov was arrested for allegedly "discrediting" Russian armed forces.

Analysis

Proekt Proekt () is an independent Russian media outlet specialising in investigative journalism. In 2021, Proekt was relaunched as Agentstvo (), but restored its original name in 2022, while Agentstvo became a news website. History and activities S ...

'' published the details of the charges and said that the "state secrets" allegedly published by Safronov were mostly available on the Internet.

Support for Safronov

Early on 5 September, prior to the court hearing, ''

Meduza ''Meduza'' (Russian: Медуза, named after the Greek goddess Medusa) is a Russian- and English-language independent news website, headquartered in Riga, Latvia. It was founded in 2014 by a group of former employees of the then-independent ...

, ''

TV Rain TV Rain ( rus, Дождь, Dozhd, p=ˈdoʂtʲ, a=Ru-дождь (doʂtʲ).ogg; stylized as ДО///ДЬ) is an independent Russian-language television channel. Launched in Russia in 2010, it has been based in the Netherlands since 2022. It focuse ...

'', ''

Novaya Gazeta Europe ''Novaya Gazeta'' (, ) is an independent Russian newspaper. It is known for its critical and investigative coverage of Russian political and social affairs, the Chechen wars, corruption among the ruling elite, and increasing authoritarianism i ...

'', and ''

The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' (''MT'') is an Amsterdam-based independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking to ...

'' called for Safronov to be released, arguing that he was being persecuted for his journalism, not treason.

Opposition to Safronov

Russian officials stated that the legal case was unrelated to Safronov's journalism.

Family

Safronov's father, also named

Ivan Safronov Ivan Ivanovich Safronov () (16 January 1956 – 2 March 2007) was a Russian journalist and columnist who covered military affairs for the daily newspaper ''Kommersant''. He died after falling from the fifth floor of his Moscow apartment buildi ...

, (16 January 1956 – 2 March 2007) was a Russian journalist and columnist who covered

military affairs Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing mi ...

for the daily newspaper ''

''. He died after falling from the fifth floor of his Moscow apartment building. There were speculations that Safronov senior might have been killed for his critical reporting: the

Taganka District Tagansky District () is a district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal city of Moscow, Russia, located between the Moskva and Yauza Rivers near the mouth of the latter. Population: Name The district takes its name from the forme ...

prosecutor's office in Moscow initiated a criminal investigation into Safronov's death, and in September 2007, officially ruled his death a suicide.Prosecutors rule the case a suicide

, 12 September 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Safronov, Ivan Living people Writers from Moscow 1990 births Russian male journalists Russian prisoners and detainees Journalists imprisoned in Russia People convicted of treason against Russia Russian people convicted of espionage