Russian court upholds ex-reporter’s 22-year treason sentence

MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow has rejected an appeal from a former journalist who was convicted of treason and given a 22-year prison sentence. The appeals court on Wednesday upheld the September sentence handed to Ivan Safronov. He worked as a military affairs reporter for leading business newspaper Kommersant before becoming an adviser to the head of Russian space corporation Roscosmos. Safronov was accused of passing military secrets to Czech intelligence and a German national. He insisted on his innocence and rejected the charges as “absurd.” His conviction and sentencing came amid a sweeping crackdown on the media and Kremlin critics during the fighting in Ukraine.