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Famous ex-defence reporter Ivan Safronov arrested, accused of treason
Famous ex-defence reporter arrested, accused of treason
a window under murky circumstances. At the time of his death he was working on a story about Russia sending an air defence system and planes to Iran and Syria. Kommersant maintains his death was not an accident.
Safronov specialised in defence stories and has fallen foul of the authorities on several occasions. In 2019 he broke the story that Russia was in talks with Turkey to supply it with advanced fighter jets. The story was politically sensitive, as the US was also negotiating with Ankara over the sale of its fighters to Turkey and threatened sanctions against Turkey if the Russian deal went through.
Now the FSB is accusing Safronov of passing military secrets to an unnamed NATO country that was later reported
to be Czechia. He was arraigned in court in a closed proceeding and his entire trial will be closed, as it deals with state secrets, the authorities said.
Due to the constant conflicts and pressure from the authorities and editors, Safronov had given up journalism only two months ago and joined the staff of Russian space agency Roscosmos as an advisor to the CEO Dmitry Rogozin, a Putin-appointee.
Roscosmos released a statement saying the arrest and investigation in to Safronov had nothing to do with its business and it was fully co-operating with the authorities.
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In what appears to be an escalating crackdown on Russian journalists by the Federal Security Service (FSB), famous defence reporter Ivan Safronov was arrested outside his apartment on June 7 and charged with treason. He faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
The arrest is only the latest of a series of arrests and cases brought against leading Russian journalists who have simply been doing their job,
but have reported or commentated on sensitive topics.
And as the FSB itself released a high- quality video of the arrest shortly
after taking Safronov into custody
that appears to have been filmed with a camera not a phone – the Russian equivalent of the “perp walk” – there was an element of a media campaign to the arrest, which some commentators say was designed by the FSB to send
a message to journalists.
Safronov is particularly prominent and even Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged he is
a leading expert on defence when
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questioned about the arrest, but added the arrest “is not related to his journalist work.” Safronov's lawyer Ivan Pavlov said it was the first time in nearly 20 years that a reporter had been accused of state treason in Russia, adding the fate of independent journalism was now on the line.
A number of media outlets, including Kommersant where Safronov used to work, issued statements in defence of
“It is simply impossible to imagine Ivan, the son of an officer, to be a traitor”
Safronov, describing him as one of the best Russian journalists and a patriot.
"It is simply impossible to imagine Ivan, the son of an officer, to be a traitor," said Vedomosti.
Safronov followed in the footsteps of his journalist father, who also covered defence for Kommersant. Ivan Safronov senior died in 2007 after falling out of
Safronov’s arrest and charges echo the arrest of another high-profile journalist last summer, Ivan Golunov, on trumped up drug possession and trafficking charges. Golunov is an investigative reporter for Meduza, the Latvian-based outlet set
up by former Russian journalists who launched independent publications after suffering harassment by the authorities.
Golunov provoked a public outcry and