MOSCOW. Sept 2 (Interfax) - Ivan Pavlov, the director of the Team 29 human rights organization and lawyer for journalist Ivan Safronov who is charged with high treason, said he cannot give in-depth commentaries on the process of the investigation anymore.
"My freedom of speech is somewhat restricted now. The reason is that investigator Alexander Chaban ambushed me at the Lefortovo pre-trial detention facility where I was meeting with my other client, Karina Tsurkan," Pavlov told journalists on Wednesday.
"The investigator entered the room where our meeting took place, accompanied by the witnesses to the investigation, and suggested that I sign an agreement on non-disclosure of the details of the preliminary investigation. Like my colleagues, I refused to sign the agreement, and a relevant document, which some jurists view as a non-disclosure agreement, was then filed. In other words, now I have been warned about criminal liability for disclosing the details of the preliminary inquiry," the lawyer said.
The regional branches of the Russian Justice Ministry earlier sent requests to the bar associations of Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Leningrad region to launch disciplinary proceedings against Safronov's lawyers. These requests were based on reports filed by the Russian Security Service (FSB).
According to the investigators with the FSB, the lawyers illegally refused to sign the non-disclosure agreements.
On Wednesday, the Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow extended Safronov's arrest until December 7.
Safronov, an advisor to the head of Roscosmos at the time of detention, has been charged with high treason. He was detained on July 7, and a court ordered his arrest.
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.