Who is Ivan Safronov? Why do Russians want him to be jailed for 24 years?

MOSCOW: Russian state prosecutors have sought 24 years in prison for former journalist Ivan Safronov for treason, state-owned news agency TASS reported.

Safronov covered military affairs for the Vedomosti and Kommersant newspapers before becoming an aide to the head of Russia’s space agency two months before his arrest in July 2020.

He denies accusations of passing military secrets about Russian arms sales in the Middle East and Africa to the Czech Republic, a NATO member, while he worked as a reporter in 2017, calling them “a complete travesty of justice and common sense.”