(Moscow) Russian journalist Marina Ovsiannikova, who became famous after appearing live on television with a sign criticizing Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine, was arrested in Russia on Sunday, her entourage and her lawyer said.
Posted yesterday at 5:37 p.m.
No official statement has been made on the reasons for his arrest, but it comes a few days after Mme Ovsiannikova demonstrated alone near the Kremlin holding up a sign criticizing the military intervention in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin.
“Marina has been arrested. There is no information on her whereabouts,” said a message posted by those around her on the journalist’s Telegram account.
This message is accompanied by three photos on which we see Mme Ovsiannikova, 44, being taken to a white van by two police officers after she was apparently stopped while riding her bicycle.
His lawyer, Dmitri Zakhvatov, confirmed the arrest to the Ria-Novosti news agency, saying he did not know where his client was taken.
“I assume it is related in some way to his act of protest,” he added.
Friday, M.me Ovsiannikova has indeed published on Telegram images of her brandishing a sign near the Kremlin evoking the death of Ukrainian children and calling Mr. Putin a “killer”.
Such statements could in theory expose him to criminal charges for publishing “false information” and “vilification” of the military, charges that carry heavy prison sentences.
Mme Ovsiannikova became world famous in mid-March after appearing in the middle of the evening news on the set of a pro-Kremlin television channel for which she was then working with a sign criticizing the offensive in Ukraine and the “propaganda” of the government-controlled media.
Briefly detained in the process, she was released with a fine to pay.
Images of her gesture have gone around the world, with many people hailing the courage of the journalist, in a context of repression of any critical voice in Russia.
One example among others of the repressive climate, the famous Russian opponent Ilia Iachine was placed in pre-trial detention on Wednesday pending trial for having criticized the operation in Ukraine.
Mme However, Ovsiannikova is not unanimous within the Russian opposition, some continuing to reproach her for the years spent working for the Pervy Kanal channel, the Kremlin’s mouthpiece.
After having worked for several months abroad, in particular for the German newspaper Die Weltthe journalist announced at the beginning of July that she had returned to Russia to settle a dispute related to the custody of her two children.