MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th December, 2020) The case against Ivan Safronov, an adviser to the head of the Russian space agency and former defense reporter, was launched because of his work for Roscosmos and not his journalistic activity, President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
"He was not accused because of his work as a journalist, his professional activities as a journalist, but for the period of his work as an adviser for Roscosms, for the information he gave to employees of a European intelligence agency, as far as I know," Putin said at a meeting with the members of the presidential council on human rights.
Putin said that treason was a serious offense that had to be punishable. However, the use of information that is available openly is a different matter, and sentencing a person for that would be "complete nonsense," the president added
The president said he would "definitely look into that" and that "could not be allowed to happen."
