A former journalist for Russian state television who resigned after publicly criticizing Russia’s conflict in Ukraine on broadcast was fined 50,000 rubles ($860) on Thursday for defaming the armed forces.
A statute that punishes criticism of the armed forces was passed following the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 and Marina Ovsyannikova was prosecuted under it. A conviction carries a maximum 15-year jail sentence.
She had already been punished for putting up an antiwar poster during the March 14 evening newscast on state Channel One, which was worth 30,000 rubles ($270 at the time).
“Stop the war, don’t trust the propaganda, they are lying to you here,” the poster proclaimed in Russian. The top of the sign read “no war,” while the bottom read “Russians opposing the war.”
She claims she was questioned for 14 hours without any help from a lawyer after being taken into custody right away.
She told Reuters after being freed that having grown up in Chechnya, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the neighboring nation in February had been a “trigger” for her.
“Very vivid images from my childhood came flooding back. I understood. I could feel what these unfortunate people are going through. It’s really beyond the pale,” Ovsyannikova had said. “It was impossible for me to remain silent anymore. … And ordinary people like me — ordinary Russian women — need to do something about it. Everyone in Russia.”
Ovsyannikova was employed as a freelance journalist for a German news channel a month after the event.
