Russian journalist in TV protest fined again for discrediting army over Ukraine
- Marina Ovsyannikova had posted on social media that those responsible for Russia’s actions in Ukraine would find themselves before an international tribunal
- She called the proceedings against her ‘absurd’, saying the purpose of the trial was to ‘intimidate all the people who oppose the war in the Russian Federation’
Former Russian television journalist Marina Ovsyannikova was fined 50,000 roubles (US$820) after being found guilty of discrediting the country’s armed forces in social media posts condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
The ruling was passed after a short hearing in a Moscow administrative court. Ovsyannikova rejected the proceedings against her as “absurd”.
“The evidence confirms Ovsyannikova’s guilt. There is no reason to doubt its authenticity,” the judge said.
Ovsyannikova gained international attention in March after bursting into a studio of Russian state television, her then employer, to denounce the Ukraine war during a live news bulletin. At the time she was fined 30,000 roubles for flouting protest laws.
Thursday’s hearing was over subsequent social media posts in which she wrote that those responsible for Russia’s actions in Ukraine would find themselves in the dock before an international tribunal.
Russia passed a law against “discrediting” the armed forces, with a sentence of up to 15 years, in early March, soon after President Vladimir Putin launched what he calls his “special military operation” against Ukraine.