2023-10-04 13:01:00
The Russian journalist Marina Ovsiánnikova, who on March 14, 2022 became famous throughout the world by breaking in with a banner against the war in Ukraine during the broadcast of the evening news program on the Russian government television ‘Piervi Kanal’ (First Channel ), was sentenced in absentia this Wednesday to eight and a half years in prison by the Basmanni court in Moscow after being found guilty of “spreading hoaxes” against the Russian Army.
Ovsiánnikova, who is 45 years old, is from Odessa (Ukraine) and fled the country, also took part in an anti-war action in front of the Kremlin in July last year, with a sign that said “Putin is a murderer.” “His soldiers are fascists,” and she urged in an interview with blockbuster Iliás Mercuri to put the Russian authorities in the dock of an “international court” for “war crimes.”
He also said that with the invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin is “frantically trying to stay in power.” He had just arrived from Germany, where he worked for several months for the newspaper ‘Die Welt’.
Russian Justice considers that the journalist published, also in July 2022, audiovisual content with “false information” about the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine. Therefore, the Basmanni court has ordered that the eight and a half years of confinement be completed “in a penal colony under general regime.” She also disqualifies her from “participating in activities related to the management of web pages” for four years.
Escape with his daughter
Ovsiánnikova was confined to house arrest in July last year and, in October, her lawyer reported that she had managed to flee Russia along with her daughter. The authorities had already issued a search and arrest warrant against her.
She wrote an autobiographical book recounting her time on Russian public television, according to her, a “factory for producing propaganda,” and explaining how she escaped from Russia. Currently, according to Russian media, she is in Germany, but she frequently travels to France and other European countries.
In her fleeting and unexpected appearance in March 2022 before the cameras, the Russian journalist condemned the war, but also the “misleading propaganda” of the official Russian media. She was then detained, but, after paying a fine, she was able to travel abroad to work for ‘Die Welt’, a German media whose website is blocked in Russia for hosting Ovsiánnikova and being critical of the invasion of Ukraine.
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