(13 Jul 2020) Moscow police on Monday detained more than a dozen journalists protesting against the arrest and jailing of a former colleague on treason charges.
Police quickly rounded up the reporters who attempted to picket outside the Lefortovo pre-trial detention facility where Ivan Safronov has been held since his arrest last Tuesday.
Safronov worked for a decade as a reporter covering military issues before becoming an adviser to the head of the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos. He is accused of cooperating with Czech intelligence, allegations he has denied.
Safronov's lawyers said last week that the Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Safronov of passing sensitive information to Czech intelligence about Russian arms sales to the Middle East and Africa in 2017, when he worked as a correspondent for top Russian business newspaper Kommersant.
On Monday, the FSB leveled charges against Safronov in Lefortovo. Safronov's lawyer Ivan Pavlov said the accusations lacked specifics and evidence, such as exactly what information he passed to the Czechs and when it happened.
"Show us evidence that could prove suspicions. They are hidden from us, they are hidden from you, they are hidden from the court. Why? Decide it for yourself."
Safronov could face up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted of treason. Safronov's arrest sent shock waves through independent Russian media outlets, which dismissed the charges as absurd and mounted a campaign in his support.
"No one is giving up, but everyone is sombrely saying 'OK, this means that they'll also raid us at some point.' But I am happy that solidarity still exists and that journalists still understand that no one will protect them but themselves," Russian journalist Tatyana Felgenhauer said while picketing outside the Lefortovo detention facility.
Many former journalism colleagues alleged that the authorities may have wanted to take revenge for Safronov's reporting that exposed Russian military incidents and opaque arms trade deals.
Last year, the FSB reportedly opened an inquiry following publication of an article by Safronov that claimed  Russia had signed a contract with Egypt for the delivery of sophisticated Su-35 fighter jets. Kommersant later removed the report from its website, and no charges were filed.
Roscosmos has said that Safronov didn't have access to state secrets and that the charges didn't relate to his work for the space corporation, which he joined in May. Prior to that, Safronov worked for Kommersant for nearly a decade and for a year for another business daily, Vedomosti.
Safronov's father also worked for Kommersant and covered military issues after retiring from the Russian armed forces. He died in 2007 after falling from a window of his apartment building in Moscow. Investigators concluded that he killed himself, but some Russian media questioned the official version, pointing to his intent to publish a sensitive report about secret arms deliveries to Iran and Syria.

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