Marina Ovsianikova: Russian TV reporter who protested the Ukraine war on air appears in court

A Moscow district court said in a statement that Channel One editor Marina Ovsianikova was found guilty of an “administrative offense” and was fined 30,000 rubles ($280).

Ovsyannikova was photographed in court earlier with one of her lawyers, Anton Gachinsky.

Dmitry Zakvatov, a lawyer who previously represented Ovsyannikova, told CNN that the administrative charge was based solely on a video statement she recorded prior to appearing with an anti-war poster on Channel One.

Take a brave stand against Russian President Vladimir Putin And his government, Ovsyannikova on Monday protested on the air, standing behind the news anchor with a sign that read: “No to war.”

The Kremlin on Tuesday called Ovsyannikova’s actions a “riot”, a criminal offense in Russia.

A photo showing Marina Ovsianikova and one of her lawyers, Anton Gachinsky, was posted on Telegram Tuesday.

Russia’s state news agency TASS reported that law enforcement officials have launched a preliminary investigation into the “public dissemination of deliberately false information about the use of the Russian armed forces.”

The brave protest was played over and over again throughout the day on international television and captured the attention of political leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron offered to protect Ovsyannikova.

“France strongly condemns any imprisonment of a journalist and any manipulation, and it is clear that we are taking diplomatic steps aimed at providing protection either at the embassy or asylum for your colleague,” Macron told reporters at a Ukrainian refugee center in France. .

Macron also said he would raise the issue directly with Putin during their next call.

censorship of the press

Putin earlier this month signed a file censorship bill It criminalizes “false” information about the invasion of Ukraine, with a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for anyone convicted, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Russia She cracked down on the local media due to the war in Ukraine and many curtailed her coverage as a result. International networks such as CNN, ABC News, CBS News, etc. have broadcast stopped from Russia. And the independent Russian news channel TV Rain, also known as Dozhd, has shut down completely. Its editor and crew, along with other freelance journalists, have left the country.

Since then, the pro-Kremlin broadcaster NTV has reportedly joined them. On Tuesday, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported that Lilia Geldeva “no longer works” with NTV.

The Telegram channel of the famous Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov reported that Gildeeva said in an interview that she had resigned and left the country.

“At first you left [the country]”I was afraid they wouldn’t let me go and then I resigned,” Varlamov quoted her as saying.

NTV declined to comment. CNN has attempted to contact Gildeeva for comment. The reason for her resignation was not disclosed.

Ovsyannikova . position

In the video, Ovsianikova blamed Putin for the war.

“What is happening now in Ukraine is a crime, Russia is the aggressor country, and the responsibility for this aggression lies on the conscience of only one person. This man is Vladimir Putin,” Ovsyanikova said in the video, noting that her father is Ukrainian, and her mother is Russian.

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“Unfortunately, for the past few years, I have been working on Channel One and doing propaganda for the Kremlin, and now I am very ashamed of it,” she says in the video. “It is a shame that I allowed lies to be spoken from television screens, ashamed that I allowed the Russian people to be harmed.”

“I am ashamed that we were silent in 2014, when all this was just beginning,” she says, referring to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

CNN’s Paul Murphy contributed to this report

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