Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One Television, has been detained after she interrupted the channel’s news broadcast in a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Monday.
Daily Mail reported that Ovsyannikova was seen in court with a member of her legal team after she was arrested and detained for over 12 hours.
There are concerns that she could face up to 15 years in prison under a Kremlin law which punishes “public dissemination of false information” about the invasion of Ukraine.
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Daniil Berman, Ovsyannikova’s lawyer stated that she would face a criminal charge for her action.
“I expect that my client, Marina Ovsyannikova, will face not an administrative charge but a criminal one under the new law which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in jail,” he said.
Ovsyannikova had staged a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Monday. She rushed to the set of a live broadcast shouting: “Stop the war. No to war”, while holding a placard that said: “Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here”.
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