The homeland hears. Over 10 years, the number of cases under articles related to the work of counterintelligence has grown 5 times

The case of the former Kommersant correspondent Ivan Safronov falls into the trend for the intensified work of counterintelligence to search for internal enemies: the number of sentences of “spy” articles has been growing for 10 consecutive years.

On the morning of July 7, the FSB operatives detained the adviser to the head of Roscosmos and the former Kommersant correspondent Ivan Safronov on suspicion of Gosomen (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). The Lefortovo District Courtarrested him for two months.

The criminal case against Safronov falls into the trend, which in recent years follows the Federal Security Service. According to the judicial department, the number of sentences under articles related to, over the past 10 years has grown.

Most often, the courts made sentences under the article on the disclosure of state secrets (283 of the Criminal Code). This article can be called relatively soft: the maximum punishment on it, depending on a part, is up to four or up to seven years in prison. The number of such cases is growing steadily from year to year: in 2009, only 8 sentences were issued, and in 2019 - already 46 - that is, growth of 5.7 times.

Articles about Gosizmen (275 of the Criminal Code) and espionage (276 of the Criminal Code) imply much more serious punishment - up to 20 years in prison. The formulations of articles are almost the same, but the first is used against Russian citizens, the second is against foreigners. Until 2014, 275 of the Criminal Code carried out no more than 5-6 sentences per year, and 276 of the Criminal Code-1-2 sentences. After the accession of Crimea and the exacerbation of relations with Western countries, both articles began to be used more often: for example, the number of sentences about the Stateizer in 2014 and 2016 exceeded a dozen.

Article 283.1 of the Criminal Code on illegal admission to GOSTIN was introduced in 2012, cases of its use are single. For example, it is pursued by the diggers and the treasure hunter who bought the cards of the 1970 General Staff.

Human rights activists from the “team 29” in the report “History of state treason, espionage and state secrets in modern Russia” note that since 2012 the corresponding articles of the Criminal Code have been seriously expanded: they added the formulations “Other cases”, “other help”, and the phrase “external security” of Russia was replaced by “safety”.

“In fact, you can fit any help to a foreigner under the article,” the authors of the report draw a conclusion.

Fixed July 8 at 18:26. The title is changed in the text; Initially, the article was called “The Motherland hears. Over 10 years, the number of cases under articles related to the work of counterintelligence has grown 6 times. ”

According to updated data, the number of sentences increased by five times: in 2009, under the article on the disclosure of GOSTIAN, eight, and not six people, as was originally approved. The corresponding paragraph in the text has also been fixed. "Mediazone" apologizes to readers.

Editor: Dmitry Treshchin