Marina Ovsiannikova will have to pay around 800 euros when found guilty of defamation of the Moscow Armed Forces
Opposing the war in Ukraine – and even calling it a war – is a crime in Russia. The Moscow Justice wanted to set an example with a new fine imposed on Marina Ovsiannikova, the journalist who last March interrupted a live program with a poster in protest of the invasion in the neighboring country. The Meshchansky District Court, in the Russian capital, has imposed a financial penalty of 50,000 rubles (just under 800 euros) on the 44-year-old reporter after convicting her of the crime of defamation of the Armed Forces; an infraction that has been applied since March to suppress criticism of what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation.”
This punishment is added to the first fine of 30,000 rubles (about 255 euros) for “organizing a public event without authorization.” Ovsiannikova, who was working on Channel 1 at the beginning of the offensive, interrupted a live program on March 14 with a banner to protest against the invasion, despite the fact that the Government of Vladimir Putin had prohibited journalists from talking about “war”. ». She was briefly detained for it.
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