A journalist of the Russian state broadcaster, Marina Ovsiannikova interrupted on Monday one of the news programs on Channel 1 of the russian public television with a banner against the invasion of Ukraine. “No to war. Let’s stop the war. Don’t believe the propaganda. they are lying to you. Russians against the war”, reads the message written on the banner, adorned with the flags of Russia and Ukraine. journalist is Marina Ovsiannikova, who was arrested after the protest. In a tweet, he claims not to regret what he did. “Whatever the consequences, I’ll wear it like a badge of honor,” she adds.
Hours earlier, Ovsyannikova had recorded a video in which he blames Putin for the war and apologizes for his work on Russian state television news. “What is happening in Ukraine is a crime and Russia is the aggressor. The responsibility for this aggression falls on one man: Putin.” “Unfortunately, for the last few years I have been working for Channel 1. I’ve been doing Kremlin propaganda and I’m so embarrassed of that”, explains the journalist.
€255 fine
Thus, after being arrested after protesting against the invasion of Ukraine During the broadcast of the news, she was sentenced this Tuesday to a fine of 30,000 rubles (255 euros) for her symbolic action.
After several hours with no news of Ovsiannikova’s whereabouts, it has reappeared in a Moscow courtas stated in an image released by the lawyer Sergei Badamshin and which shows the journalist with her alleged defender, Anton Gashinski, reports the newspaper ‘Novaya Gazeta’.
The judicial authorities have determined that you will have to pay 30,000 rubles (255 euros) for organizing a public act without authorization, the result of an administrative sanction, according to sources cited by the Interfax agency.
open investigation
However, the Investigation Committee has opened a case to determine if he has committed a crimein particular the one that punishes the dissemination of false information about the activity of the Armed Forces, punishable by up to 15 years in prisonaccording to sources cited by the TASS agency.
Translation to the video #MarinaOvsyannikova pic.twitter.com/bgTsqCEm6F
— SlavaUkraine (@slava_to_ua) March 14, 2022
The journalist would have declared before a Moscow court, according to the BBC, where she faces the charge of organizing an unauthorized event. She for this charge she could be sentenced to a fine, to perform community work or to 10 days in jail. But there is a fear that the new legislation, approved on March 4, will apply to her, declares illegal public actions aimed at discrediting the Russian Army and prohibits the dissemination of false news or “public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” It also forbids mentioning the words “war” or “invasion.” For this, she can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. This censorship and persecution of journalists is what has led many international media to withdraw their professionals from Russia and stop reporting from there.
The European Commission denounced on Tuesday the “disappearance” of Ovsiannikova. “Marina was arrested and has disappeared. Her lawyers are not authorized to contact her,” said the Community Executive’s spokesman for Foreign Affairs, Peter Stano, who applauded the “brave moral stance” and her courage to “object to the lies of the Kremlin”.
“The (Russian) state apparatuses continue their pressure against the domestic opposition, denying their basic rights, such as freedom of opinion and expression,” Stano added. French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he will offer the journalist asylum. The French president has ensured the launch of diplomatic contacts to provide some kind of “protection” to Ovsiannikova.
Zelensky’s thanks
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, thanked the protester for her gesture: “I am grateful to those Russians who do not stop trying to convey the truth. To those who fight against disinformation and tell the truth, the real facts, to their friends and loved ones,” Zelensky said. “AND personally to the woman who entered the Channel 1 studio with a sign against the war”.
With the imposed gag that has led to the closure of many independent media and the blocking of social networks such as Twitter or Facebook, state television is the main source of news for many millions of Russians. A medium that repeats the Kremlin’s message that Russia was forced to act in Ukraine to demilitarize and “denazify” the country.International Amnesty
Related news
Also, the NGO International Amnesty (AI) has demanded this Tuesday the journalist’s release. AI’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Marie Struthers, has stressed that protesting live on television is an act “of great courage”, not a crime. “No one should be arrested solely for expressing their opinions”, she stressed, before considering that they should not face reprisals for “bravely” exercising their right to freedom of expression.
Struthers has indicated that the Kremlin, which continues to “criminalize all forms of anti-war dissent and protest”remains “determined” to “hide the human costs of his possible war crimes in Ukraine.”