Russian court rejects appeal of former journalist Safronov

Former Russian defence reporter Ivan Safronov lost an appeal on Wednesday against a 22-year jail sentence on charges of treason, a Reuters journalist in the courtroom said.

Safronov, a former reporter for the Kommersant and Vedomosti newspapers who later worked as an adviser to the head of Russia's space agency, was arrested in 2020 and accused of disclosing classified information.

He was sentenced in September, in what his supporters called a draconian ruling that showed the absence of media freedom in Russia.