(Moscow) A woman who burst into a pro-Kremlin newscast with a sign criticizing the military offensive in Ukraine could face up to 15 years in prison, her lawyer told AFP on Tuesday.
Posted at 9:08
“I presume that my client, Marina Ovsiannikova, faces criminal and not administrative proceedings under a new law which provides for up to 15 years in prison,” said lawyer Daniil Berman.
“There is a high probability that the authorities will use this as an example to silence other protesters,” he added, stressing that he has still not been able to meet his client or know where she is being held exactly. .
The Russian authorities, for the time being, have not indicated which charges could target Marina Ovsiannikova.
This 40-year-old, born in Odessa in Ukraine, burst into full live Monday evening on the set of one of the most watched television news in Russia, on the pro-Kremlin federal channel Pervy Kanal.
Marina Ovsiannikova, an employee of Pervy Kanal, appeared behind the presenter with a sign that read “No to war. Don’t believe the propaganda. You are being lied to here”.
This is an extremely rare scene in a country where information is strictly controlled, and all the more so since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
In particular, the authorities hastily adopted in early March a law punishing up to 15 years in prison for the publication of “false information” about the Russian army.
It is within the framework of this law that Marina Ovsiannikova, mother of two minor children, could be prosecuted, according to her lawyer.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday called the protest an act of “hooliganism”. “The channel and those who have to take care of it, take care of it,” he commented.
“An internal investigation is being conducted” into this “incident,” Pervy Kanal said in a statement.
In a video recorded before taking action, Marina Ovsiannikova explained that her father is Ukrainian, her mother Russian, and that she no longer supports the dissemination of “lies” which “zombify” Russians.
Since then, she has received tens of thousands of messages of support on her Facebook account.