Russian authorities on Wednesday raided the house of a former state TV journalist who give up after making an on-air protest towards Moscow's warfare in Ukraine. Additionally they launched a felony case towards her on the cost of spreading "false info" concerning the Russian armed forces, her lawyer mentioned on social media.
The case towards Marina Ovsyannikova was launched underneath a legislation enacted after the February 24 invasion of Ukraine that penalizes statements towards the navy, lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov mentioned. A conviction is punishable by as much as 15 years in jail.
Zakhvatov advised the impartial information website Meduza that the case is probably going linked to a protest Ovsyannikova staged final month, holding a banner that mentioned "(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is a killer, his troopers are fascists."
He mentioned on Telegram that after the raid Ovsyannikova is anticipated to be introduced into the Investigative Committee for questioning.
Ovsyannikova used to work as a producer with Russian state-funded Channel One. She made worldwide headlines on March 14, when she appeared behind the anchor of a night information broadcast holding a poster that mentioned "cease the warfare, do not consider the propaganda, they're mendacity to you right here."
She was charged with disparaging the Russian navy and fined 30,000 rubles ($270 on the time).
After quitting her job, Ovsyannikova turned one thing of an activist, staging antiwar pickets and talking out publicly towards the battle.
She was fined two extra occasions in latest weeks for disparaging the navy in a vital Fb submit and feedback she made at a court docket the place opposition determine Ilya Yashin was remanded into custody pending trial on spreading false details about the navy.
In accordance with Web Freedoms, a authorized support group specializing in free speech instances, as of Wednesday there have been 79 felony instances on expenses of spreading false details about the navy and as much as 4,000 administrative instances on expenses of disparaging the armed forces.