MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2020) A district court in Moscow ordered on Tuesday two months of arrest for former journalist Ivan Safronov, suspected of handing classified defense information to a NATO country, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the courtroom.
Safronov, serving as an adviser to the chief of the Russian space agency Roscosmos since May, was detained earlier in the day. The ex-defense reporter denies the treason charges.
"The court rules to grant the motion of the investigation and place Safronov in custody as a pre-trial restriction for one month and 30 days, until September 6," judge Sergey Ryabtsev, known for handling Paul Whelan's case, said.
Roscosmos spokesman Vladimir Ustimenko told Sputnik that the agency would not provide any comment on the arrest or reveal its stand on the matter.
The space agency said earlier in the day that Safronov's detention was not related to his work for Roscosmos. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, said that the detention did not appear to be connected to Safronov's work as a journalist. The Kommersant newspaper called charges against its former employee absurd, saying he was a true patriot.
