MOSCOW | Russian journalist Marina Ovsiannikova, famous for interrupting the newspaper of a Russian state channel with a poster against the offensive in Ukraine, was sentenced to a new fine on Monday for denouncing the conflict.
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Convicted by a Moscow administrative court of having “discredited” the Russian army, Ms. Ovsiannikova will have to pay a fine of 40,000 rubles (about 650 euros at the current exchange rate), she indicated on her Telegram account. .
Her lawyer, Dmitry Zakhvatov, told AFP that the journalist had been sentenced on the basis of a message she had posted on Facebook.
She had already been sentenced at the end of July to pay a fine for the same reason. Two convictions less than six months apart open the way to a criminal case, with potential legal consequences much heavier.
Ms. Ovsiannikova, who continues to strongly criticize the offensive in Ukraine despite legal threats, also shared the text of her defense, all in irony, which she read before the judge on Monday.
“I admit that it was indeed (…) America and Europe that led to the fact that in Russia there is no longer any freedom of expression, independent court or free election. Or that people are imprisoned for calling for peace,” she said.
Ms. Ovsiannikova became famous in mid-March after appearing, in full newspaper, on the set of a pro-Kremlin television channel for which she worked. During her speech, she carried a sign denouncing the offensive in Ukraine and the “propaganda” of the media controlled by the power.
The images of his gesture went around the world. Many people praised his courage, in a context of repression of any critical voice in Russia.
However, she is not unanimous within the Russian opposition, some still reproaching her for her years spent working for the Pervy Kanal channel, the Kremlin’s mouthpiece.
After working several months abroad, notably for the German newspaper die Welt, she announced in early July that she had returned to Russia to settle a dispute related to the custody of her two children.