Former special correspondent for Kommersant and Vedomosti, ex-adviser to the head of Roskosmos, Ivan Safronov, sentenced to 22 years on charges of treason, was transferred to serve his sentence in a strict regime colony in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. He has already managed to go through a two-week quarantine and is now starting to equip his simple life. The prisoner was recently visited by Moscow lawyers – together they will prepare a cassation appeal against the verdict, which they consider unfair and unreasonable.
The arrival of Ivan Safronov in the penal colony IK-7 in the village of Areyskoye of the main department of the Federal Penitentiary Service (GU FSIN) in the Krasnoyarsk Territory on Monday was announced by his lawyer Dmitry Katchev. From the capital’s pre-trial detention center (SIZO) “Lefortovo”, where the journalist spent almost 2.5 years, he left in early January. According to some reports, at first the convict was transferred to another Moscow detention center – SIZO-4, from where he was then sent along the stage. The end point of the route remained unknown for a long time.
“Initially, it was clear to us that Ivan would be sent beyond the Urals, but the exact place was not called,” Mr. Katchev explained to Kommersant. According to him, some time ago, clarity finally came, but the defenders were in no hurry to name the place where Ivan Safronov ended up before they visited him. The other day, Dmitry Katchev, together with his colleague Daniil Nikiforov, visited IK-7. By this time, the convict has already served a two-week quarantine and is now waiting for distribution to the detachment.
As the lawyers said, the stage itself from Moscow to Krasnoyarsk took their client about three weeks, with several intermediate stops for “transfers”.
Representatives of the defense note that this is considered a fairly quick transfer. At the same time, the convict has no complaints about the conditions of transportation and detention in the correctional colony. The lawyers emphasized that during their visit to the institution the administration behaved extremely correctly, they were allowed to transfer and very promptly brought the prisoner himself to a meeting.
“Vanya is still cheerful and says hello to everyone,” the defenders noted.
They say they will visit their client again in the coming weeks to discuss filing an appeal against the verdict. Frequent trips to a remote region are not very convenient, but lawyers see no other way out. In such a situation, prisoners sometimes turn to local lawyers who are “within walking distance” for legal assistance. However, in the case of Ivan Safronov, this is not an option, given the secrecy of his criminal case on treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, local defenders will be involved only if necessary to quickly resolve some domestic or technical issues.
Meanwhile, Ivan Safronov himself has not yet been employed in the IK.
A strict regime colony for first-time convicts is located 18 km from Krasnoyarsk in a village with a population of just over 2,000 people.
The correctional colony itself, with an official address on Solnechnaya Street, is designed for more than 1,500 convicts, however, according to available data, it is not completely filled now. “We don’t have any negative reviews about this institution,” Ivan Safronov’s lawyers explained to Kommersant.
Sources of “Kommersant” in the prison department also said that this is “the most common working “smooth” colony.”
It is worth noting that the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Krasnoyarsk Territory is one of the largest institutions in the country with the largest number of “special contingent”. Traditionally, almost all local colonies employ convicts in woodworking. In IK-7, which was established back in 1957 and for some time was a women’s colony for convicts with children, prisoners now make counters for street trade, carved gazebos, swings, benches, country toilets, garden furniture, birdhouses, containers for solid household waste . However, there is also a clothing industry and a metalworking workshop. At one time, products were manufactured here for the Krasnoyarsk Iskra TV Factory and the Krasnoyarsk Electric Car Repair Plant.
According to official information, IK-7 is considered the most “singing” and sportive among both convicts and employees of the criminal correctional system of the region. Last year, at the summer Olympics among prisoners, the IK team took first place in the overall standings, winning basketball, tug-of-war and arm-wrestling competitions. The colony has a library, a club where a stage of the festival of amateur theatrical art “Visiting Melpomene” among prisoners was recently held. The team of convicts “Random People” presented the concert program “How the old man sold the bull” to the jury.
It is possible that Ivan Safronov, as a representative of the creative profession, the administration will try to engage not in production, but rather in the service sector and amateur performances.
