Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said a former journalist who was jailed for 22 years on treason charges had transferred confidential information to Western intelligence agencies.
Putin said he would not assess whether the lengthy prison sentence - which human rights lawyers called "unprecedented" in its severity - handed to Ivan Safronov earlier this week was "fair."
Safronov was a military affairs reporter for the Kommersant and Vedomosti dailies before becoming an aide to the head of Russia's space agency. His arrest and sentencing triggered outcry among critics of the Kremlin's crackdown on independent media.