5-10-2023 (MOSCOW) Exiled Russian reporter Marina Ovsyannikova has been sentenced to eight years in jail in absentia for allegedly spreading disinformation about Moscow’s army. The sentencing comes after Ovsyannikova protested Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine live on state TV and held up a protest placard during an evening news program in March 2022. However, she was ultimately convicted for a separate protest she conducted outside the Kremlin four months later.
The Moscow prosecutor’s office confirmed the sentence, stating that Ovsyannikova would serve her imprisonment in a general regime penal colony. Additionally, she will be prohibited from operating social media accounts for a period of four years.
Ovsyannikova was not present during the sentencing as she had already fled the country last year, managing to escape house arrest with her 11-year-old daughter at the time. Prior to the sentencing, she released a statement denouncing the charges against her as “absurd and politically motivated.” She argued that she was being punished for refusing to be intimidated and for speaking the truth.
“I categorically deny my guilt and stand by every word I have spoken. I made a difficult, yet morally correct choice in my life, and I have already paid a significant price for it,” Ovsyannikova asserted.
According to her Instagram page, Ovsyannikova currently resides in France. The sentencing has drawn condemnation from Paris, with Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna criticizing the “repression carried out by the Russian authorities against voices critical of power.”
Ovsyannikova’s lawyer, Dmitry Zakhvatov, expressed skepticism about the trial and the possibility of a successful appeal. He remarked, “Participating in the trial would be meaningless. As far as we know, acquittals are unheard of in Russia, especially in cases related to politics.”
Since the initiation of Russia’s full-scale hostilities against Ukraine last year, the government has intensified its crackdown on dissent. Thousands of individuals who have expressed opposition to the conflict have been detained, imprisoned, or fined as part of an unprecedented campaign to suppress dissenting voices.
