A Moscow court ordered journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who denounced Russian intervention in Ukraine during a live TV broadcast, to pay a fine for defaming the Russian military. Moscow’s Meshchansky District Court said Thursday that Ovsyannikova, a former editor at state-controlled Channel One, must pay a fine of 50,000 rubles ($806). “The evidence confirms Ovsyannikova’s guilt. There is no reason to doubt its authenticity,” the judge said. Ovsyannikova dismissed the proceedings against her as “absurd”. Thursday’s hearing was about social media posts that said those responsible for Russia’s actions in Ukraine would stand trial in an international court. Her lawyer, Dmitry Zakhvatov, said she was fined for speaking out against Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine earlier this month when she appeared in Moscow’s Basmanny District Court in support of city councilor Ilya Yashin. In mid-July, Yashin, one of the last prominent opposition figures still in Russia, was detained for two months for denouncing Moscow’s attack on Ukraine.
“War is a horror”
Ovsyannikova, a 44-year-old mother of two, was briefly detained earlier this month. Her detention came several days after she demonstrated alone near the Kremlin, holding a sign criticizing the military intervention in Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zakhvatov said the journalist is now in Russia and has no immediate plans to leave. In March, Ovsyannikova came under fire for interrupting a live television broadcast to denounce Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, for which she was fined 30,000 rubles ($484). After sending troops into Ukraine for what it calls a “special military operation” against Ukraine, Moscow has passed laws imposing prison terms of up to 15 years for spreading information about the military that authorities deem false. In court, Ovsyannikova repeated her protest and said she would not retract her words. She said she didn’t understand why she was there and why she was being judged. “What is happening here is absurd,” he said. “War is horror, blood and shame.” He continued: “Your accusations are like accusing me of spreading monkey pox,” he said. “The purpose of the trial is to intimidate all people who oppose the war in the Russian Federation.” He described Russia as an aggressor country, saying: “Starting this war is the greatest crime of our government.” A lawyer for Ovsyannikova said she had the right to speak under Article 29 of the Russian constitution, which protects the right to freedom of expression, but the judge rejected the lawyer’s arguments. Russian authorities have not announced the opening of any criminal investigation against Ovsyannikova. In the months following her protest in March, Ovsyannikova spent time abroad, working for Germany’s Die Welt. In early July, she announced that she was returning to Russia to settle a dispute over the custody of her two children.
