Oct 5 (Reuters) – Russian TV journalist Marina Ovsyanikova has been accused of spreading fake news after a series of solo protests against the war in Ukraine.
“Because I consider myself completely innocent and our state refuses to comply with its own laws, the restraining measures imposed on me as of September 30, 2022. Refusing to comply and refuse to be released from it,” she said.
In a video posted to Telegram, she sat on a pink sofa, addressed Russia’s Federal Prison Service, and criticized President Vladimir Putin for the war.
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“Tag Putin like this,” she said, gesturing at what appeared to be an electronic ankle bracelet.
Her lawyer, Dmitry Zakhvatov, said she was supposed to appear at a court hearing at 10:00 Moscow time (0700 GMT), but was absent because investigators were unable to locate her. rice field.
He told Reuters that authorities were unaware of her whereabouts and that she would be detained if arrested.
Ovsyannikova grabbed the world’s attention in March by stepping in front of the studio cameras during an evening newscast on national television, carrying placards reading “Stop the war” and “They are lying.” I was.
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The Kremlin at the time denounced her protests as “hooliganism”.
The 44-year-old spent two months in August over protests when she stood on the river embankment opposite the Kremlin in July and held up posters calling Putin a murderer and his soldiers a fascist. He was given house arrest.
She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of spreading fake news about the Russian military.
Her house arrest was scheduled to last until October 9, but state-run news media Russia Today reported on Saturday that she had fled with her 11-year-old daughter and her whereabouts were unknown. It is still unknown how she left and where she went.
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Russia passed a new law on March 4, eight days after its invasion of Ukraine, banning the discrediting and dissemination of “deliberately false information” about its armed forces.
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