Russia: Journalist Ivan Safronov has been sentenced to a record 22 years in prison by a Russian court on charges of fabricated treason. Friends and supporters who gathered in court on Monday to protest Safronov's captivity were shocked by the sentence.

The former defense reporter for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, Safronov, was tried using concealed evidence. However, the case files made public by ProAct showed that much of the evidence against him was based on publicly available information in his articles and on alleged links to foreign nationals that were not supported by any evidence.

Despite this, a panel of judges quickly decided the case, which his lawyer claimed would have an impact on Russian journalism and demonstrated that "for good, legal journalistic work, you can spend a long time in prison." can go."

Safronov remained motionless as the judge sentenced him to 22 years in prison with an additional two years of rigorous probation after his release, which could happen in 2042, having already been served. His supporters, many of whom were present there to cover the trial, began to applaud as the court adjourned.

"I'll send a letter to everyone. Keep sending me letters. From the glass cage where the defendants are kept in Russian courts, he said, "I love you!" Dressed in a black vest and gray sweatpants, Safronov was taken away after some time.

According to a Mediazona correspondent, his fiancé told the remaining bailiffs in the courtroom, "You can all burn [in hell]."

Throughout the investigation, Safronov was under tremendous pressure to confess. A prosecutor offered to recommend a 12-year sentence if he pleaded guilty during the final hearing. After his refusal, the prosecution demanded 24 years in prison in his place. "They told him to get lost," Safronov's lawyer Evgeny Smirnov told the Guardian.

Several hundred people attended the court hearings. After the verdict was pronounced, some people were crying and hugging each other in the corridors and outside on the street. As the courtroom was being emptied, one reporter interrupted another and said, "I don't know. I listened for 22 years before giving up.

Safronov was reportedly apprehended by Russian authorities by "finding and collecting secret and top-secret information", including details of Russia's military-technical cooperation with CSO member states as well as nations of the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. About is also included.

The defense claimed it thought it was the target of retaliation for disclosing information about a failed deal to sell 20 Su-35 fighter jets to Egypt, which caused the Egyptian military hierarchy to complain to Russia. .

According to journalist Katerina Gordeeva, who produced a short film about the case, the case of Ivan Safronov is one of the most mysterious and closed in recent Russian legal history. He will not break, Safronov's mother assured him in an interview. He is tough at his core. He is able to manage it.

An open letter requesting Safronov's release was signed by most of Russia's independent media outlets. “We feel this decision is politically motivated and unjust. Journalism is not a crime.

"The whole world will see that they want to put a journalist in jail for writing articles," Safronov said in his final statement in court before the sentencing. If the guilty verdict is passed, the discussion of freedom of expression will be put on hold for a very long time, if not forever, because there will be no freedom of expression.

"If it is my fate to serve time in prison, I will do so with honor and dignity."

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