MOSCOW. July 13 (Interfax) - The questioning of Ivan Safronov, an adviser to the head of Roscosmos and a former journalist who has been accused of high treason, at the Investigative Directorate of the Russian Federal Security Service has ended, Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer with the human rights association Team 29, told Interfax.
"The interrogation is over. The investigators didn't have questions for Ivan. It happens sometimes. He didn't admit guilt," Smirnov said on Monday.
The lawyer said Safronov intends to continue fighting.
"He's in excellent spirits, and he intends to fight. Naturally, he cannot admit to any of the charges, because he considers them to be utter nonsense. He intends to fight," Smirnov said.
Safronov is being treated "very correctly," he said. "He feels that he's right," Smirnov said.
Safronov was indicted on Monday.
Moscow's Lefortovsky District Court arrested Safronov for two months on suspicion of high treason on July 7.
According to his defense lawyers, investigators believe that Safronov, who was allegedly recruited by a Czech special service in 2012, provided its official in 2017 with secret information on supplies of weapons and the Russian Armed Forces' actions in the countries of Africa and the Middle East. Investigators insist that the end recipient of the secret information was the United States.
Safronov denies any wrongdoing and believes his criminal case is related to his journalistic work.
Before his job at Roscosmos, Safronov worked as a journalist for the Kommersant and Vedomosti newspapers, specializing, in particular, in defense industry issues.