es Vienna, 10/08/22
Russian authorities have raided the home of Marina Ovsyannikova, 44, the former Channel 1 state TV producer fined for her famous on-air protest against Putin’s war in Ukraine.
They have now launched a criminal case against her under a law enacted after the February 24 invasion of Ukraine. This punishes statements made against the military, such as speaking of “a war” instead of “a special operation” in Ukraine. It carries a sentence of up to 15 years.
Her lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov told the opposition Meduza paper, now exiled to Latvia, that the case was probably linked to a protest she staged last month at which she held a banner reading “Putin is a killer, his soldiers are fascists”. Following the raid she is expected to be brought into the Investigative Committee for questioning, he said.
She made international headlines on March 14 when she appeared behind the anchor of an evening news broadcast holding a poster that said “stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here”. It cost her 30,000 roubles (around 265 Euros).
- 10/08/22 Meduza report
- 15/03/22 AEJ on Ovsyannikova protest on March 14, 2022
- 16/04/22 AEJ hired by German newspaper Die Welt