(Reuters) – Russian ex-reporter Ivan Safronov stated ahead of Monday’s treason trial resuming that he will vigorously defend the charges and doesn’t fear being imprisoned.

Safronov covered military affairs in Kommersant and Vedomosti newspapers. Two months prior to his arrest, he was an assistant at the head Russian space agency. If convicted, he could spend up to 20-years in prison.

He refutes the accusations that he passed military secrets on Russian arms sales in Africa and Middle East to Czech Republic (a NATO member), while working as a reporter.

Russia’s media environment was shaken by his detention. Controls were already strict and are being tightened more since Russia invaded Ukraine.

On Monday, he will be tried again behind closed doors.

Safronov, who struck a defiant tone Monday in correspondence that Reuters saw, stated that he had no doubts that he would be imprisoned because of his alleged offenses.

Safronov stated, “I will fight till the end. There is no doubt about it,” in a March 26 letter sent by Moscow’s Lefortovo jail.

It doesn’t matter if it is a sentence in prison. “It absolutely doesn’t scare me,” stated the letter. It was shown to Reuters under the condition that the recipient remained anonymous.

Safronov claims that the state investigated him for his connection with a Czech journalist who he met in Moscow 2010 and later established a website. Safronov also claimed that he helped to use information entirely based upon open sources.

Moscow, after it sent troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24, has passed a law prohibiting certain words from being used in order to explain its military intervention there. This is what it refers as a “specially military operation”.

This forced many media outlets, including independent ones to close down or relocate.