The court extended the arrest of former Kommersant journalist Ivan Safronov

The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow extended until March 7 the arrest of former Kommersant correspondent Ivan Safronov, who is accused of treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code). It is reported by MBH Media.

The defense requested that Ivan Safronov be given a preventive measure not related to detention.

Neither journalists nor relatives of Ivan Safronov could attend the meeting. “Those who do not have a summons are not allowed into the building, it has also been announced that “no one from the media representatives is accredited,” reports Kommersant . The bailiffs referred to quarantine measures in connection with the coronavirus epidemic, Safronova's girlfriend Ksenia Mironova told Dozhd. In the waiting room of the Moscow Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatyana Potyaeva, they answered that the judge had decided not to let the listeners in. Later, only Ksenia Mironova and Safronov's sister Irina were allowed to come to the announcement of the decision.

• The Qualification Commission of the Council of the Moscow Chamber of Advocates refused to hold Ivan Safronov's lawyers accountable. The Ministry of Justice demanded this because the lawyers refused to give a non-disclosure agreement on the data of the preliminary investigation, which the investigator tried to take on July 13, the day Safronov was charged.
• In October, the investigator denied Safronov a telephone conversation with his mother. The law enforcement officer considered that the conversation could be used to "perform intelligence assignments of a foreign intelligence service."
• Ivan Safronov is a former journalist for Kommersant and Vedomosti, at the time of his arrest he was an adviser to the head of Roskosmos. The persecution of Safronov is associated with his journalistic activities, he covered the work of the military-industrial complex. Safronov was detained on July 7, 2020 by FSB officers as part of a treason case. On the same day, the court sent him to a pre-trial detention center for two months, then the arrest was extended until December.