A Russian journalist fleeing war protests has been sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Former Russian TV journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who caught the world’s attention when she stormed a news broadcast carrying a banner reading “Stop the war” and “They are lying to you”, was sentenced in absentia on Wednesday to eight and a half years in prison.

Ovsyannikova was fined for her original protest, less than three weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, in what she called a “special military operation.”

But she later faced a criminal trial for “intentionally spreading false information about the Russian Armed Forces” in connection with a July 2022 protest when she stood on a river bridge opposite the Kremlin and held up a poster calling President Vladimir Putin a murderer and his soldiers fascists. .

“How many children have to die before you stop?” Read the label.

Ovsyannikova, 45, fled Russia with her daughter to an unspecified European country a year ago after escaping house arrest, according to her lawyer, saying she had no case to answer.

The case against her was brought under laws passed shortly after the Russian invasion, which criminalize “defaming” the armed forces or spreading false information about them.

Ovsyannikova posted a statement on Telegram on the eve of the ruling in which she described the charges as “ridiculous and politically motivated.”

“Of course I do not admit my guilt,” she wrote. “And I don’t hold back a single word.”

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