Latest news with #Skvortsov
Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Russia jails photographer for 16 years for handing material to US journalist
A Russian court said on Thursday it had found a photographer, Grigory Skvortsov, guilty of treason and jailed him for 16 years after Skvortsov said he had passed detailed information about once secret Soviet-era bunkers to a U.S. journalist. Skvortsov, who was arrested in 2023, denied wrongdoing. In a December 2024 interview with Pervy Otdel, a group of exiled Russian lawyers, he said he had passed on information that was either publicly available online or available to purchase from the Russian author of a book about Soviet underground facilities for use in the event of a nuclear war. He did not name the U.S. journalist in the interview with Pervy Otdel, which the Russian authorities have in turn designated a "foreign agent" - a label which carries negative Soviet-era connotations and is designed to limit their activities and influence. A court in Perm said in a statement that Skvortsov would serve his sentence in a maximum-security corrective prison camp and that his treason had been fully proven in a trial it said had been held behind closed doors. It published a photograph of him in a glass courtroom cage dressed in black looking calm as he listened to the verdict being read out. Russia radically expanded its definition of what constitutes a state secret after it sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 and has since jailed academics, scientists and journalists it deems to have illegally shared secrets. An online support group for Skvortsov said on Telegram after the verdict that "a miracle had not happened" and the photographer's only hope of getting out of jail was to be exchanged as part of a prisoner swap between Russia and the West. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
The Sun
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Russia sentences photographer to 16 years for treason
MOSCOW: A Russian court said on Thursday it had sentenced a photographer to 16 years in jail for treason after a closed-door trial, without giving details of the charges. Grigory Skvortskov, 35, said while in pre-trial detention he had given a US journalist a book about Soviet bunkers and other material -- but that the information was declassified and publicly available online. Russia has escalated a crackdown on rights at home since it sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Alongside targeting opponents and critics of the Kremlin, authorities have become increasingly suspicious of journalists, scientists and academics with ties to the West. The Perm Regional Court said it had 'sentenced him (Skvortsov) to 16 years' imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony'. It said he had pleaded not guilty to treason. The trial was carried out behind closed doors -- typical for treason cases in Russia -- and prosecutors have not publicly outlined the case against Skvortsov. In a written interview with Russian rights group Perviy Otdel ('Department One') conducted while he was in custody, Skvortsov said investigators had questioned him about sending a book about Soviet-era bunkers to an unnamed US journalist, along with other architectural plans and photos. He said the book and other materials were publicly available online and feature only declassified material. Skvortsov, who specialises in architecture photography, has spoken out publicly against Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine. He alleged FSB officers beat him during his arrest in November 2023 and said they tried to force him under duress to admit guilt to treason.
