“The term is not important! You’ll come out anyway earlier "

Ivan Safronov was sentenced to 22 years in a maximum security colony

The Moscow City Court sentenced the ex-journalist of Kommersant, an adviser to the head of Roscosmos Ivan Safronov by 22 years in a strict regime colony in the case of Gosizmen.

The journalist was in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center for more than two years, and the announcement of the sentence took no more than ten minutes: the judge read out the court’s decision without a motivation part due to the “secrecy” of the case. A few days before, the “project” published an indictment, from which it followed that the “secret” information that Safronov allegedly transmitted to foreign intelligence is in open sources.

Prior to the meeting, journalists, relatives, acquaintances and friends of Safronov gathered in the corridor of the court. If the former discussed football and the latest news, then the journalist close to the journalist did not experience: in the smoking room of the court, they specified Dmitry Katchev’s lawyer, where the journalist accused of Stateizman will be a sentence for the sentence and in which colony he is transferred after it. Safronov also came to Safronov, the chairman of the Yabloko party Nikolai Rybakov and human rights activist Marina Litvinovich.

Waiting for a large number of people, the Moscow City Court was allocated to announce the verdict one of the largest halls

But at the same time, places for listeners and presses occupy only a quarter of the area of ​​the room, therefore both the judges and the defendant himself are at a significant distance from the audience. Because of this, part of those present, sitting down, tried to see if Safronov was in the Aquarium in or without them.

After that, the presiding judge in the top three read out the verdict by which Safronov was found guilty of two crimes: for each of them the court sentenced 16 years, and the final period, taking into account the time of being detained, amounted to 22 years in prison with a stern colony with a fine of 500 thousand rubles and a restriction of freedom for two years.

- Safronov, are you understanding the verdict and the appeal order? The judge asked.

“Yes, your honor,” Safronov answered.

“The court hearing is closed,” the presiding judge concluded.

After that, loud cries and applause were heard in the hall. Those present began to chant "freedom!" And shouting the words of support to Safronov: "The term is not important, you will come out before!"

“And you will burn everything,” the bride of the convicted journalist Ksenia Mironova turned towards the bailiffs and state prosecutors, but by this moment the prosecutors had already left their places.

- I love you! - shouted Safronov before he took him from the courtroom.

After the meeting, relatives and close friends of Safronov tried to refrain from commenting, and his defender completely urged to think about continuing the journalistic career.

- I cannot call this sentence except inadequate. Enough phrases regarding illegality and unreasonableness cannot reflect all the absurdity that has happened today and witnesses of which we all have become. Ivan Safronov was given 22 years for his journalistic activity. I want each of you, who is looking at me now, think about whether it is worth staying in this profession at all, if a person for doing his job was given 22 years. Think about it, ”Katchev said.

Another defender Safronov Daniil Nikiforov said that the verdict will be appealed on the day of the meeting, since no one had illusions regarding the outcome of the case and the “draft” of the appeal, the defenders have already prepared in advance.

- The verdict has already been signed by the court and right today they promise to hand it to us. Any accusatory sentence, even if he were on one day of a prison term, in our opinion was not adequate, unfair. For two years, everyone was probably convinced that Ivan the owner of his word, and he long before the date of the sentence became known, said that any sentence would perceive absolutely calmly, which actually happened, Nikiforov said, also noting that in order to tell about all the violations in the case, the press conference “Four hours” would be needed.

After the sentences who came to the sentence almost parted, a lone picketer with a mysterious banner on which was written “1937 + 1941 = 2022” was discovered across the road from the court. How exactly this message is deciphered, he refused to inform, inviting everyone to guess about it.