Former aide to head Roscosmos faces high treason sentence - Russia

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Moscow journalist and former aide to the head of the Roscosmos, Ivan Safronov, has been found guilty of high treason in a Moscow City Court on Monday.

The judicial board's statement read:

"To recognize Safronov Ivan Ivanovich guilty of committing a crime under Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation," continuing with "To give Safronov a sentence of imprisonment for a term of 22 years to be served in a strict regime colony."

In addition to his imprisonment, Safronov was sentenced to two years of freedom restriction following his release as well as 500,000 rubles. 

Safronov's lawyer Daniil Nikiforov told Sputnik that "We will certainly appeal the verdict, moreover, we have no illusions, in this regard, we already have a complaint in our hands, we are ready to file it right now,"

Although the case was tried in private, the public was allowed to hear the decision. The descriptive and motivational portions of the decision were left out since the court only read the introductory and operative parts.

In another context, the Russian Foreign Ministry, on June 14, added 29 UK journalists and 20 defense officials to the new sanctions list, making them ineligible for entry into Russia.
 
Members from major media outlets, such as The Independent, Sky News, The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, BBC, and The Financial Times, were banned.

The foreign ministry stated that the British journalists included on the list were involved in the dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia, events in Ukraine, and the Donbass, adding that their assessments contributed to the incitement of Russophobia in British society.

Read more: Roscosmos: Sanctions could cause space station to crash