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Russian Journalist Who Protested Against Putin During Live Broadcast Regains Freedom

Russian Journalist Who Protested Against Putin During Live Broadcast Regains Freedom
Russian TV journalist, Marina Ovsyannikova who was detained for interrupting a live broadcast to protest the war in Ukraine, has been fined and released after 14-hour of interrogation.

Gatekeepers News reports that Ovsyannikova, an editor at Russia’s Channel One, on Monday night walked onto the set and held up a sign to the camera protesting President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine during a live broadcast on Monday night.

The poster says “No war, stop the war, don’t believe the propaganda, they are lying to you here.” She could also be heard repeating the words “no war, stop the war”.

The placard was clearly visible for a few seconds before the programme cut away from the live broadcast to a pre-recorded report.

She was detained and denied access to her lawyers as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called her actions an act of “hooliganism”.

After her release, she said was questioned for 14 hours and also fined 30,000 rouble (£214; $280) due to her video message.

In the video, she called on the Russian people to protest against the war, saying only they have the power to “stop all this madness”.

“Don’t be afraid of anything. They can’t imprison us all,” she said.

She had pleaded not guilty to the charge of organising an unauthorised public event but it is not clear if she will face separate charges relating to her protest on live TV.

There had been fears she would be prosecuted under a more serious, new criminal law that bans calling Russia’s military action in Ukraine an “invasion” or spreading “fake news” about the conflict.

After the court hearing, Ovsyannikova told reporters that she needed to rest after two days without sleep.

“The interrogation lasted for more than 14 hours, I wasn’t allowed to get in touch with my family or friends, I was denied access to a lawyer,” she said.

She also stressed that she came up with the idea of the protest alone.

“It was my anti-war decision. I made this decision by myself because I don’t like Russia starting this invasion. It was really terrible,” she said in English as she left the courthouse.

Lawyers were unable to locate Ovsyannikova for several hours after she was detained on Monday evening.

Her whereabouts were unknown until an image circulated on Russian media showing Ovsyannikova in court with lawyer Anton Gashinsky.

Before the Monday incident, Ovsyannikova recorded a video in which she said she was ashamed to work for what she called Kremlin propaganda.

“I’m ashamed that I allowed myself to tell lies from the television screen. Ashamed that I allowed Russians to be turned into zombies,” she explained. “We just silently watched this inhumane regime.”

Ovsyannikova, who said her father was Ukrainian, said the whole world had turned against Russia.

“The next 10 generations won’t be able to clean themselves from the shame of this fratricidal war.”

Ukraine’s President Zelensky has praised her for “telling the truth”.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France would launch an effort to offer her protection, either at the embassy or through asylum, and said he would discuss it in his next conversation with President Putin.

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