Colleagues of Marina Ovsyannikova had been reportedly taken unexpectedly when she stormed a Russian information program to protest the battle in Ukraine, as a result of that they had by no means earlier than heard her discuss politics.
There's concern concerning the destiny of Ovsyannikova, who may face prison prices following the stunt on Monday during which she held up an indication that mentioned "cease the battle" and "right here they deceive you."
Ovsyannikova solely managed to carry up the signal for just a few seconds throughout a bulletin learn by Ekaterina Andreeva, however the repercussions of her motion seen by hundreds of thousands of viewers of the Vremya (Occasions) program may very well be much more long run.
New laws has been handed by the Russian parliament prohibiting the unfold of "faux" information and outlaws "discrediting" the Russian army. The brand new legal guidelines additionally ban media from utilizing the phrases "invasion" or "assault" to explain the battle in Ukraine
Her actions may imply that she faces as much as 15 years in jail.
Nonetheless, acquaintances of Ovsyannikova instructed that the motion got here out of the blue on the channel the place she had labored as an editor within the worldwide division.
Unbiased journalist Farida Rustomova wrote in a weblog publish that was shared by unbiased outlet Meduza that her colleagues had advised her they had been "very shocked by her act, as a result of they've by no means heard her discuss politics."
One mentioned that she spoke "largely about youngsters, canine and the home."
It seems that Ovsyannikova didn't write the presenters' script however translated into Russian the texts of overseas politicians, businessmen and others.
Ovsyannikova additionally launched a pre-recorded video during which she expressed remorse for engaged on Channel One and this performed an element, nonetheless small, in "simply silently watching this anti-human regime.
"And now the entire world has turned away from us and the subsequent 10 generations will not have the ability to clear themselves from the disgrace of this fratricidal battle," she mentioned within the video made earlier than the protest and posted by Meduza.
"What is occurring in Ukraine is against the law and Russia is the aggressor," she mentioned. "The accountability of this aggression lies on the shoulders of just one particular person: Vladimir Putin."
In the meantime, a lot of her colleagues talking on situation of anonymity advised the information outlet Republic.ru how they had been "dumbfounded and on the identical time admired her braveness."
OVD-Data, a Russian unbiased human rights group, reported she was being held on the Ostankino Police Division in Moscow though her lawyer, Dmitry Zakhvatov, advised CNN he couldn't discover her.
Lawyer Anastasia Kostanova advised the BBC that Ovsyannikova being incommunicado meant that the authorities try "to deprive her of authorized help and, apparently, they're making an attempt to arrange essentially the most stringent prosecution."
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was amongst many who praised the bravery of her motion.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned the incident was not a query for the Kremlin, telling reporters on Tuesday, "Relating to this woman, that is hooliganism."
He mentioned it could be handled by the channel and "those that are speculated to cope with it," information company Tass reported, "and this isn't a query on our agenda."
Post a Comment