Ivan Safronov’s arrest was extended on the colonel’s word of honor

by time news

The Moscow City Court has extended to one and a half years the term of detention in the pre-trial detention center of the former special correspondent of Kommersant and Vedomosti, adviser to the head of Roscosmos Ivan Safronov. This is the maximum period stipulated by the law during which the FSB is obliged to complete the preliminary investigation on the accusation of the journalist of high treason – the transfer of information about the defense capability of Russia to foreign intelligence. Meanwhile, Ivan Safronov himself, who has a new lawyer who strengthened the defense team after the departure of lawyer Ivan Pavlov to Georgia, categorically denies his guilt.

The consideration of the next petition of the FSB investigator for especially important cases, Colonel of Justice Alexander Chaban, took place in the Moscow City Court according to the already traditional scheme, but it took longer than usual. As the representatives of the defense explained, all the arguments of the investigation remained the same, and the hitch was associated with the prolonged stay of Judge Elena Pospelova in the deliberation room. However, this did not affect the final decision in any way: the term of detention of Ivan Safronov, who was again brought to court by a convoy of FSB special forces under the personal leadership of Colonel Chaban, was extended, as requested by the investigation, for another three months – until January 7 2022 year. 18 months is the legal limit for a preliminary investigation. At least a month before its expiration, the defendant must be charged in the final version, after which he and his defenders must begin to study the materials collected by the investigation under Art. 217 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation.

On Monday, Alexander Chaban, as the lawyers explained, citing standard arguments about the possibility of Ivan Safronov to hide, noted that he plans to complete the preliminary investigation within the next weeks and meet by November. However, this caused skepticism on the part of the defense.

“There was nothing new, everything was standard, and we have been hearing promises to complete the case since July 2020, the moment of Ivan’s arrest,” lawyer Daniil Nikiforov told Kommersant.

According to him, it is completely unclear what the investigation is doing, since in court Mr. Chaban only mentioned that some witnesses were recently questioned. “We do not know who it is, nor their surnames, nor even their nationality, whether they are classified – the court was again asked to take their word for it, which he did,” explained Mr. Nikiforov, noting that Ivan Safronov himself “ still cheerful and cheerful ”and does not intend to make any deals with the investigation. His colleague Evgeny Smirnov added that on Monday 321 personal guarantees were provided for Ivan Safronov, and in fact, the only difference between the last meeting and the previous ones was the participation in the meeting of the new lawyer Dmitry Talantov, the president of the Udmurtia Bar Association, who recently entered the case to strengthen the position of the defense after the forced departure to Georgia of the lawyer Ivan Pavlov.

Evgeny Smirnov also said that his client, who spent some time in solitary confinement, had a neighbor, whose name and the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which he is accused, while it was decided not to advertise.

According to him, from time to time, some investigative actions are carried out with his client, some of which look rather comical. In particular, recently they wanted to acquaint the defense with a new document – an electronic disk, but this could not be done, since in the entire investigation department of the FSB there was not a single computer with the necessary drive for viewing. On another occasion, lawyers were unable to examine the disc because they did not find a certified computer.

“We do not rule out that the investigation will drag out the deadlines to the maximum possible,” summed up the lawyers, noting that Ivan Safronov is the “most positive” of them, sends greetings to everyone and the warmest words of gratitude for the guarantees and attention to his person.

According to them, in the coming days, the decision to extend the term of detention until January 7 will be appealed, although “no one harbors illusions.”

Sergey Sergeev

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