Journalist Marina Ovsiannikova, famous for protesting against the Ukraine offensive on state television, was sentenced in another case to eight and a half years in prison in absentia for criticizing the army, a Russian court said Wednesday.
The journalist, who fled Russia a year ago, was prosecuted for “spreading false information” about the Russian armed forces and had already been fined for similar offenses in August 2022.
According to the state agency Ria Novosti, she was convicted this time for demonstrating alone last year with a sign against the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
Ms. Ovsiannikova became famous in mid-March 2022 after appearing, in the middle of the 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 government.
Images of his action, just a few weeks after the start of the Russian assault, went around the world. Many people praised his courage, in a context of repression of any critical voice in Russia.
In July 2022, she was arrested after protesting alone near the Kremlin holding a sign criticizing the military intervention in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In October 2022, while under house arrest, she fled Russia with her daughter. The journalist is currently in France, according to her Instagram account.
The repression in Russia of any voice critical of the Kremlin and its offensive in Ukraine is in full swing. Many opposition figures and ordinary citizens have been sentenced to long prison terms.
Tens of thousands of Russians, notably opponents, journalists and community activists, have chosen exile.