Russian independent military reporter found dead

On March 2nd, the well-known Russian reporter Ivan Safronov from “Kommersant” newspaper died under obscure circumstances in Moscow. Investigators considered suicide the most likely explanation of Safronov’s death. Safronov´s relatives and colleagues doubt that he could have committed suicide and will conduct their own investigation. (13-MAR-07)

Text: HRH/Moscow, by Yanina Savenko. Sources: kommersant.ru, inopressa.ru, hro.org,echo.msk.ru, gazeta.ru

A former colonel in the Russian Space Forces, Safronov, 51, had been writing about military and space issues for “Kommersant”. He was one of the foremost Russian military reporters; he was considered an independent journalist of high principles. “He was so good. Everyone in the office loved him”, said “Kommersant” Editor in Chief Andrey Vasilyev.

In broad daylight in the center of Moscow
On Friday afternoon Safronov fell out from a fifth-floor window of the apartment building where he lived. His own flat was on the third floor. Two students heard his body fell on the ground; they called for an ambulance. Safronov was still alive. But they were told to wait and to call back in half an hour if the man wouldn’t stand up himself. When the ambulance car arrived the journalist was already dead. Ivan Safronov was all dressed, wearing a coat and his hat. There was a bag of scattered tangerines near his body.

Circumstances suggest murder
Safronov´s relatives believe he may have been murdered. The journalist had no domestic troubles, was expecting a grandchild, and did not leave a suicide note. He had no serious disease and wasn’t in a state of depression. On the contrary, all his friends and colleagues agree that they can not think of a person “more cheerful” than Ivan Safronov; somebody else could commit a suicide, but not him. “Safronov fell from the window upside down; that would not have happened if he had jumped of his own volition. This could mean he was knocked unconscious and then pushed out of the window”, said Kommersant journalist Konstantin Lantratov. Human rights activists believe Safronov was killed because of his professional activities.

He knew a lot about real state of affairs in the army and in the defense industry
Shortly before his death the military reporter of “Kommersant”, Ivan Safronov was preparing an article about possible new military supplies to the Middle East by the Russian Federation. The article concerned the sale of a consignment of Russian fighters to Syria and sale of Russian anti-aircraft rocket-powered complexes to Iran. According to Ivan Safronov, in both cases the military supplies must be provided through Belarus, in order for the West not to accuse the Russian Federation of arming the countries-outcasts.  Safronov returned late February from a reporting trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he covered the annual IDEX-2007 (International Defense Exhibition) and Conference of defense manufacturers. After the conference he told his colleagues that he had found out that the Russian Federation and Syria had already signed other contracts, concerning supplies of Russian anti-aircraft rocket-cannon complexes, fighters and operational tactical rockets.

Journalist sharply irritated authorities
In the beginning of 2005 Safronov’s article about possible supplies of operational tactical rockets to Syria by the Russian Federation provoked a sensational scandal: the USA and Israel expressed anxiety about Russia’s supplies of targeting missile systems. Located in Syria they could strike almost every object on the territory of Israel. Later during his visit to Israel Vladimir Putin confirmed that negotiations had been carried on and that “military officials were ready to supply Syria with operational tactical rockets. But the Russian President personally “banned realization of that bargain”.

Someone was threatening the journalist
Since he started working for “Kommersant” in 1997, Safronov had more than once angered government officials and had been questioned a number of times by the Federal Security Services (FSB) on pretext of divulging state secrets. But he was never charged, because he was always able to prove that he had used publicly accessible information which he found in Internet. However, that time Safronov told his colleagues that he wouldn’t write about new supplies of sky-rockets yet: He had been warned that if the case gained publicity there would be a great international scandal and the FSB would certainly file a suit against him for divulging state secrets and FSB officers would “bring the case to an end”.  Safronov didn’t say exactly who had warned him about possible consequences…
 
Investigators considered suicide the most likely explanation of Safronov’s death
The Public Prosecutor Office filed a suit under the Article “Driving to suicide”.  Meanwhile, Kommersant reporters launched an inquiry among relatives and colleagues of the dead journalist, but they have found no explanation for the suicide. Investigation has just got a new version of Ivan Safronov’s death. Representatives of the public prosecutor office consider that it is not inconceivable if Safronov was prompted to suicide by poison or by psychotropic substances. A few collateral evidences prove this version, including evidence given by persons who had spoken with the journalist on the day of his death. According to them, Ivan Safronov looked not himself that day; he was sleepy and constrained. Investigators found no direct evidence of possible murder. Medical-forensic examination will take about a month.

Independent journalists are forced to silence 
According to the International Institute of News Security, Iraq heads the list of perished journalists and the Russian Federation takes the second place in the world. For the last ten years 113 journalists perished in Iraq and 88 representatives of mass media – in the Russian Federation. “It’s really dangerous to work as a journalist in the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, crimes against journalists have become more frequent in the Russian Federation. It means that journalists have become persons Non Grata for representatives of authorities, who want to protect themselves from criticism and from publication of materials discrediting the authorities”, said Oleg Panfilov, President of the Foundation of Extreme Journalism.