The Russian investigative group Proyekt (Project) has concluded that high treason charges against Ivan Safronov, a prominent former journalist on trial for allegedly giving secret materials to foreign agents, are "baseless."
Proyekt's conclusion was based on official accusation papers against Safronov, who faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted, that the group published on August 29.
Investigators accuse Safronov of handing secret materials to Czech secret-service agent Martin Laris about Russian arms sales in the Middle East to the Czech Republic, a NATO member, in 2017, and of handing unspecified classified information to German secret-service agent Dmitry Voronin.
Safronov has repeatedly denied the accusations and his supporters have held pickets in Moscow and other cities demanding his release.
Proyekt studied the accusation papers from investigators and concluded that they had not found a single Russian official who could have handed Safronov any materials or information that could be defined as classified. Furthermore, Proyekt said it also could not find any evidence proving Czech journalist Laris and German political analyst Voronin have any links to the secret services of the two European Union nations.
Even if Laris and Voronin were secret-service agents, there is no proof that Safronov could be aware of that, Proyekt said, adding that investigators failed to prove Safronov had received money from the two named persons while the information mentioned by investigators as secret is publicly available online.
Safronov, who was arrested in July 2020, went on trial behind closed doors in early April and faces a penalty of up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
The 32-year-old journalist, who covered the defense industry for the newspapers Kommersant and Vedomosti, is also a former adviser to the head of Russia's space agency, Roskosmos.
Human rights organizations have issued statements demanding Safronov’s release and expressing concerns over an intensifying crackdown on dissent in Russia.