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2001 December 25 However, Pasko, who was convicted of treason and sentenced to four years in prison, tried to demonstrate to reporters in Current Time (Nastojaščeje vremia) that Safronov’s arrest scenario was very reminiscent of what he had suffered.
“It just came to our attention then. The arrest, then the vague statements, then the interrogation … I’m very familiar with that, – Pasko said. – Nothing tangible. There is no specific suspicion. The process is unlikely to be made public. Judging by the leaked information, the court will be closed and everything will remain secret. “
I. Safronov, who has worked as an advisor to the head of the Russian space agency Roskosma since May, I. Safronov was a famous journalist who wrote about the military and industrial complex for the Kommersant and Vedomosti newspapers. According to lawyers, the basis of the accusations against I. Safronov is the transfer of secret information about the arms trade from Russia in the Middle East to the Czech Republic in 2017.
Although Safronov worked as a journalist, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quick to mention that the allegations were unrelated to journalism. According to a statement released by Roskosma, the allegations are also not related to work at the space agency.
During July 7. At a court hearing in Moscow, it was decided that Safronov’s 30-year detention should continue until September 6. The journalist was accused of treason in accordance with article 275 of the Penal Code. If guilt proved, Safronov would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Some people in Russia see Safronov’s arrest as a prophetic signal of what to expect from the entry into force of controversial constitutional changes that could give authoritarian Vladimir Putin the right to remain in office until 2036.
The next level of repression.
“Trying to deal with Safronov is a new level of repression against journalists in the country,” said Andrei Soldatov, a prominent investigative journalist on technology and security.
He pointed out that until 2012, the definition of treason of the fatherland in specific laws had that the FSB had to go a long way in accusing a journalist of violating those laws.
For example, in 2007, journalist Natalia Morar, who allegedly revealed state secrets, was prohibited from entering Russia, but was not arrested or tried.
“When the article of the Penal Code was rewritten at the initiative of the FSB,” writes A. Soldatov, “the rules changed. However, people thought that the victims could be at least some experts and not journalists.”
“Today, it has become clear that this is not the case,” continues Soldatov. – The FSB has demonstrated this in a very clear and publicly possible way. They indicated which topics of common interest would be closed for everyone except those who “need to know”.
A sleeping snake
G. Pasko also agrees with these considerations, and compares the amended text of Article 275 with the snake, which has been inactive since Fall 2012.
“[Straipsnis] very broad and very vague, “Pasko told RFE / RL and Voice of America (VOA), a joint broadcast channel in Russian, Current Time. – Due to the lack of specificity, it has greatly facilitated the imprisonment of journalists, although in the past was impossible. In the past, if someone revealed a secret, the accused was not the journalist but the person who transmitted the information. Now they can face journalists. “
The law does not specify what information is confidential; This is left to the discretion of various government agencies. Ironically, lists of sensitive information often classify themselves.
Ivan Pavlov, a St. Petersburg lawyer representing Safronov’s defense specializing in state secrets, says the law in question can be applied to anyone with acquaintances abroad.
It can be a scientist, a journalist, a specialist in any field, a human rights activist or others. I. Pavlov named all those people as a risk group in relation to that article of the Penal Code.
“I am surprised that no journalist has been convicted for so long under Article 275,” Pavlov told RFE / RL. – But now we have the example of Mr. Safronov, and that means that Pandora’s box has been opened. The authorities do not see the inviolable caste of journalists and will certainly persecute those who, for one reason or another, will be at risk. “
A dangerous precedent
“This is a precedent that is dangerous for all of us,” said journalist Ilya Barabanov of the BBC Russia editorial office, who previously worked with I. Safronov in the editorial office of Kommersant.
Journalist Julia Latynina, who writes articles for Novaya Gazeta, hinted that many commentators are comparing the incident with Safronov to other recent criminal cases against journalists, particularly Ivan Golunov and Svetlana Prokopiev.
I. Golunov, an investigative journalist working with the Meduza news channel, was arrested in Moscow in June 2019 and charged with possession and distribution of drugs. Later, when it became clear that the evidence provided by the police had been fabricated, the allegations were rejected.
Ms. Prokopiev, a journalist working with the Russian RFE / RL editorial board, was found guilty of “justifying terrorism”. She was sentenced in Pskov on July 6. The journalist received 500 thousand. ruble (6.2 thousand euros) fine.
According to Latynina, in no case did the security structures manage to punish journalists with prison, although this was clearly the objective.
They were saved by the fact that questionable evidence of guilt was made public. Unfortunately, Safronov’s case is different.
What can they trust? With the intimidating word “secret”. I. Safronov was allegedly a spy. What did he do? Unfortunately this is a mystery. He passed secret information to a mysterious person in a mysterious way and in a mysterious place, but we can’t talk about it, because it’s a secret, “says J. Latynina.
“If the public asks for an explanation of what they did, the answer will be:” We cannot, because it is a state secret. “But you have to trust us,” says Latynina.
The age of cannibalism has dawned
Earlier this month, a leading expert on Russian mercenary groups was convicted of treason in a court in St. Petersburg.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Vladimir Neyelov, a 30-year-old analyst, was arrested in 2018 and accused of providing confidential information to a German consulting company.
According to a report presented by the Pavlov legal aid group team 29 in 2018, at least 101 cases of treason or espionage have been reported in Russia.
48 defendants are members of security or defense structures and 53 are civilians. Since 1997, only one, the ecologist Alexander Niktin, has been fully acquitted, but it took more than four years between his arrest in February 1996 and the final closure of the case in September 2000.
According to Team 29, there are currently 23 cases of treason or espionage in Russia, including the case of Safronov.
Journalist Jevgenija Albats, editor of The New Times, put it this way: “Vegetarianism is likely to end and there will be more and more manifestations of cannibalism.”
“We live in a KGB-led country,” he said, recalling the Soviet-era predecessor of the FSB.
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